[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 7]
[House]
[Page 9753]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




           SENATE VERSION OF AMERICAN HEALTH CARE ACT RELEASE

  (Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute.)
  Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, we have a copy of the Senate 
bill to repeal ObamaCare, and it is no wonder they didn't want us to 
see it.
  Like the mean-spirited bill passed by the House, it rips insurance 
away from millions of Americans, rolls back key protections to patients 
with preexisting conditions, and allows insurers to charge older people 
five times more than others.
  Despite the promises that the Senate bill will moderate the coverage 
cuts in the House-passed bill, the Senate is not only retaining the 
House bill's fundamental restructuring of the Medicaid program to a per 
capita cap on Federal funding, but it is deepening the cuts on Medicaid 
after a few years. This will inevitably lead to the rationing of 
healthcare for 70 million Americans who are beneficiaries of Medicaid: 
pregnant women, people in nursing homes, children, and people with 
disabilities.
  It is not even clear what policy goal this bill is trying to solve, 
except for making insurance more expensive or unavailable for people 
who really need it the most. It is almost hard to call this a 
healthcare bill at all.
  There were no hearings, no public debate, and after weeks of backroom 
deals and operating in secrecy, we now have this terrible product that 
the Senate plans to vote on next week.
  I think the American people deserve better.

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