Washington, DC – Working Americans and members of Congress are demanding that Republicans stop putting billionaires and unnecessary wars over working families’ health care. On Wednesday, Reps. Brendan Boyle (PA-02), Debbie Dingell (MI-06), Joe Morelle (NY-25), and Adelita Grijalva (AZ-07), alongside Americans who rely on Medicaid and ACA tax credits, joined the “Stop Taking Our Health Care” campaign for a press call holding Republicans accountable for their attacks on Americans’ health care.
Congressional Republicans voted for historic cuts to Medicaid and ended health care tax credits that have helped millions of Americans afford health care so they could give tax breaks to the ultra-wealthy. They’ve even threatened further cuts to health care to bankroll their unnecessary war in Iran. Their votes have already raised health care costs and put 15 million Americans at risk of losing their coverage altogether. During the call, participants called out congressional Republicans for gutting working families’ care while giving billionaires even more tax breaks and supporting a billion-dollar-a-day war in Iran.
“Congressional Republicans’ keep telling Americans there isn’t the money to pay for Medicaid or health care tax credits, meanwhile they’re bankrolling tax breaks for billionaires and backing a costly war of choice,” said Unrig Our Economy Campaign Director Leor Tal. “Working families’ costs are soaring and millions are losing their health insurance to pay for congressional Republicans’ misaligned priorities. It’s time they listened to their constituents and stopped putting health care at risk.”
Washington Times: Democrats demand Republicans prioritize federal healthcare over Iran war
Key Points:
- Democratic lawmakers scolded Republicans and the Trump administration on Wednesday for efforts to gut the Affordable Care Act amid rising costs at the pump and the grocery store.
- To close out the monthlong campaign, “Stop Taking Our Health Care,” Democrats in a town-hall event called on Republicans to prioritize federal healthcare coverage over the war in Iran and tax breaks for billionaires — the latter of which stems from deductions for corporations and top earners in the GOP’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
- Rep. Brendan Boyle, Pennsylvania Democrat, cited the Congressional Budget Office’s estimate that 15 million Americans are projected to lose healthcare coverage by 2034, driven primarily by Medicaid and ACA subsidy cuts in the bill.
- “The bottom line is this: Millions and millions of people are about to lose their healthcare, all to subsidize tax breaks for billionaires,” said Mr. Boyle, the ranking member of the House Budget Committee.
- Rep. Joe Morelle of New York said Republicans are prepared to sacrifice struggling American families for “an illegal and ill-advised war in Iran.”
- “We can’t afford nutrition, we can’t afford to bolster Social Security, but we can spend $60 billion in a matter of five or six weeks on an ill-advised and unauthorized military incursion in Iran,” said Mr. Morelle, top Democrat on the House Administration Committee.
- Audrey Horn, a retired Nebraskan who relies on the ACA for her family’s care, said that while billionaires and big corporations are benefiting from tax breaks, “Republicans want to cut health care even more to pay for an unnecessary war that is already making life for everyone more expensive.”
- Tiffany Mason, who has cerebral palsy and relies on Medicaid, said that when Republicans cut Medicaid, “they didn’t just cut a line in the budget; they cut the care that helps people like me live independently.”
- “Medicaid paid for the cost of my wheelchair. My wheelchair is my life. It’s how I get around,” she said. “Congressional Republicans’ vote puts that in jeopardy and potentially stops people from receiving durable medical equipment that they need.”
- Rep. Debbie Dingell, Michigan Democrat, said she’s hearing from constituents “who are just one illness away from financial ruin, and they’re not isolated stories.”
- “In the richest nation on earth, we need to be having a higher standard than this,” the chair of the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee said.
To learn more about the campaign, visit UnrigOurEconomy.com or contact press@unrigoureconomy.com
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About Unrig Our Economy
Unrig Our Economy is a national campaign to fix the rules of our economy to make it work for working people. We know that when the middle class does well, all of us do well — which is why we’re fighting on behalf of working Americans and holding corporations, their wealthy executives, and the politicians who enable them accountable.