Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), a member of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, today released the following statement about the newest TrumpCare scheme, and Republicans’ withdrawal from bipartisan health care talks in the HELP Committee:
“Everything old is new again, as Republicans bring TrumpCare back from the dead. This lousy bill would do all the damage Americans rejected in Republicans’ previous attempts to gut our health care system. It would throw tens of thousands of Rhode Islanders off the health insurance they rely on. The bill would drastically cut funding for nursing home care, defund Planned Parenthood, and restore discrimination for preexisting conditions. It would rob billions of dollars from states like Rhode Island that expanded Medicaid to cover millions of uninsured Americans. In a last-ditch attempt to tear down Obamacare, Republicans are trying to jam this through over the objections of many of their own governors and home-state health officials, doctors, hospitals, and patient advocates.
“In the HELP Committee, we began a series of hearings this month on bipartisan ideas that would build on the gains we have made under the Affordable Care Act. While Democrats worked in earnest to make compromises that would improve our health care system, it is hard to agree with people who don’t want to agree. I hope Republicans will come back to the table because compromise and cooperation reap the best outcomes.”
The Republican proposal would take insurance away from 89,000 Rhode Islanders and cut $625 million from the state’s health care budget in 2026 alone.
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