One Year After Senate Trumpcare Bill Failed, Murray Highlights Trump Administration’s Health Care Sabotage, Urges People to Speak Out

Almost one year after harmful Trumpcare proposal failed in the Senate, Murray highlights President Trump’s efforts to sabotage families’ health care on his own

Murray condemned ongoing health care sabotage by the Trump Administration which has hiked premiums, eroded patient protections, slashed investments that help people find coverage, and refused to defend protections for pre-existing conditions in court

Murray: “Last year we came together and gave President Trump’s health care repeal scheme a big thumbs down. Unfortunately that hasn’t stopped President Trump from doing everything he can to sabotage families’ health care from the Oval Office.”

Murray also voiced opposition to Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court, urging people to speak out against President Trump’s extreme nominee who would threaten families’ health care

Murray: “We know we can stop [Kavanaugh]—if people across the country do exactly what they did to beat Trumpcare, stand up, speak out, and make clear that families who didn’t want their health care stripped away last year, don’t want it stripped away this year either.”

***WATCH SEN. MURRAY’S SPEECH HERE***

(Washington, D.C.) — Today, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, delivered remarks on the Senate floor reflecting on the defeat of Republicans’ Trumpcare proposal one year ago. The partisan legislation, a last-ditch effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA), would have undermined the health care of millions of families by spiking premiums, gutting Medicaid, and putting families back at the mercy of big insurance companies.

In her remarks, Senator Murray emphasized that the bill failed because people across the country stood up and spoke out against Republican efforts to take away their health care. Senator Murray also shared personal stories from people in Washington state with pre-existing conditions, who wouldn’t be able to get the care they need if Trumpcare had passed. She also condemned the Trump Administration for responding to the bill’s defeat by ignoring the will of families across the country and sabotaging health care from the Oval Office instead by slashing investments that help families find coverage, expanding loopholes that allow insurers to offer junk plans, refusing to defend pre-existing condition protections in court, and nominating a Supreme Court candidate hand-picked by far-right groups to fulfill President Trump’s goal of rolling back families’ health care.

Key excerpts from Senator Murray’s remarks:

“A year ago, President Trump tried to make good on his campaign promise to repeal the Affordable Care Act, and jeopardize health care for millions of people. A year ago, he tried to jam Trumpcare through Congress, a harmful, mean-spirited bill that would’ve spiked premiums, gutted Medicaid, and scrapped protections for people with pre-existing conditions, putting families back at the mercy of big insurance companies. But people across the country stood up, spoke out, and made it absolutely clear they didn’t want President Trump to take away their health care—or give back power to the insurance companies.”

“Last year we came together and gave President Trump’s health care repeal scheme a big thumbs down. Unfortunately that hasn’t stopped President Trump from doing everything he can to sabotage families’ health care from the Oval Office.”

“When he couldn’t jam through Trumpcare, instead he jammed through a partisan tax bill that gave cuts to big insurance companies and drug companies and paid for them with steps even his former Health Secretary confessed would drive up families’ premiums. He slashed investments that help people understand their health care options and get covered. He handed power back to insurance companies by expanding loopholes for junk plans and making it easier to ignore patient protections—including protections for women, seniors, and people with pre-existing conditions. The Trump Administration is even refusing to defend pre-existing condition protections in court, both abandoning its duty to defend the law and ignoring the will of people across the country who want them to fight for these protections.”

“We know President Trump chose Judge Kavanaugh because he has no doubt Kavanaugh will support his efforts to sabotage families’ health care and make it harder for millions of people to get the care they need. We know pre-existing condition protections are on the line. We know stopping Kavanaugh’s confirmation isn’t a matter of partisan politics, for many families it’s a matter of life and death.”

Watch Senator Murray’s remarks HERE:

Full text of Senator Murray’s remarks:

“Thank you M. President. 

“A year ago, I was proud to see Congress stand with families across the country who didn’t want to see their health care rolled back.

“A year ago, President Trump tried to make good on his campaign promise to repeal the Affordable Care Act, and jeopardize health care for millions of people.

“A year ago, he tried to jam Trumpcare through Congress, a harmful, mean-spirited bill that would’ve spiked premiums, gutted Medicaid, and scrapped protections for people with pre-existing conditions, putting families back at the mercy of big insurance companies.

“But people across the country stood up, spoke out, and made it absolutely clear they didn’t want President Trump to take away their health care—or give back power to the insurance companies.

“During that debate, I heard personal stories from patients and families all over Washington who were concerned Trumpcare would make it harder for them to get the care they need.

“I heard stories like Julie’s. Julie has a genetic condition, and as a result of it, she’s had four different types of cancers. She’s had four different organs removed during treatment. She’s had her diet severely restricted. And she’s had her life dramatically changed. But she’s a fighter, and she had excellent care. She ultimately won each of those four battles with cancer. However, without protections for people with pre-existing conditions, her health care costs could skyrocket. If President Trump had his way, Julie could not get the care she needed—and she’s not the only one.

“I also heard from families like Vanessa’s. When Vanessa was pregnant, she learned her daughter would be born with significant health challenges. In fact, her daughter, Cheyenne, had her first surgery when she was just 20 days old—she would have two more before her first birthday. Even though Cheyenne was born with pre-existing conditions that will be costly to treat for years to come, Vanessa was able to get insurance through our state exchange, and get her daughter the care she needs. But if President Trump had his way that might not be possible.

“Last year, in the midst of the Trumpcare debate, I shared Vanessa’s story, and Julie’s story, and many other stories from families in Washington state—and I heard even more than I could share!

“And people in other states across the country were also reaching out, letting their Senators know how damaging Trumpcare would be for their families and urging them to vote against it. And it worked.

“Last year we came together and gave President Trump’s health care repeal scheme a big thumbs down. Unfortunately that hasn’t stopped President Trump from doing everything he can to sabotage families’ health care from the Oval Office.

“When he couldn’t jam through Trumpcare, instead he jammed through a partisan tax bill that gave cuts to big insurance companies and drug companies and paid for them with steps even his former Health Secretary confessed would drive up families’ premiums.

“He slashed investments that help people understand their health care options and get covered.

“He handed power back to insurance companies by expanding loopholes for junk plans and making it easier to ignore patient protections—including protections for women, seniors, and people with pre-existing conditions.

“The Trump Administration is even refusing to defend pre-existing condition protections in court, both abandoning its duty to defend the law and ignoring the will of people across the country who want them to fight for these protections.

“While President Trump has broken a lot of promises, it’s clear he has never wavered in his promise to undermine health care for families, and he has never failed to put insurance companies ahead of patients—which is why his decision to nominate Judge Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court is such an alarming omen for families’ health care.

“As a candidate, President Trump left no question he would nominate far-right Supreme Court judges who would strike down the Affordable Care Act and jeopardize care for millions of families. And to be sure candidates met his extreme, ideological standards, he had them vetted by extreme, ideological conservative groups.

“We know President Trump chose Judge Kavanaugh because he has no doubt Kavanaugh will support his efforts to sabotage families’ health care and make it harder for millions of people to get the care they need.

“We know pre-existing condition protections are on the line.

“We know stopping Kavanaugh’s confirmation isn’t a matter of partisan politics, for many families it’s a matter of life and death.

“And we know we can stop it—if people across the country do exactly what they did to beat Trumpcare, stand up, speak out, and make clear that families who didn’t want their health care stripped away last year, don’t want it stripped away this year either.

“I’ve already heard from many families concerned about this, and I know others are sharing their stories as well.

“So I hope my Republican colleagues are listening even more closely than they were last year, and that more of them will join us on the side of patients and families, not the President on the side of insurance companies.

“Thank you M. President.”

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