Washington, DC
U.S. Senator Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD) released the following statement in response to the vote in the House of Representatives to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

 

The new House Leadership seems intent on putting the health and the lives of our seniors and middle-class Americans in jeopardy with their irresponsible pursuit of repealing health care reform. At a time when the American public clearly wants its leaders to focus our attention on helping to create jobs and grow our economy, the new House majority chose to begin the new Congress with a vote to turn back the clock on popular health care benefits and halting progress on a new law that has brought economic stability and peace of mind to tens of millions of Americans.

 

The new House Leadership has talked about how they want to repeal and replace health care reform, but today they admitted that they see no urgency in stopping insurance company abuses, helping seniors afford prescription drugs, getting tax credits to small businesses, and reducing the deficit. They have no timetable for solving these critical issues.

 

The oppositions track record on health reform has been filled with inaction and obstruction. From 1993, when Republicans actually succeeded in blocking comprehensive health care reform, to when the Affordable Care Act was passed last year, the number of uninsured Americans jumped from 37 million to 47 million while the nation's health care costs rose from $921 billion to $2.4 trillion. Simply repealing the health care reform law would cost our nation $230 billion in the first 10 years and over a trillion dollars in the next decade. The lives and resources at stake are too great to look back. Now is a time to move forward.

 

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