Andrade Backs Resolution Opposing Trump’s American Health Care Act

CHICAGO – In an effort to combat negative effects a proposed federal healthcare overhaul would have on the most vulnerable, state Rep. Jaime Andrade, D-Chicago, is supporting a resolution that opposes the Republican-introduced American Health Care Act.

“The changes that are being pushed by Trump and his Republican allies have had little outside input and threaten to substantially roll-back the progress that has been made in the past ensuring that health-care is a basic human right,” Andrade said. “We should be working together to improve our system, not making backroom deals that will strip away healthcare from millions of people.”

House Resolution 445 notes that the Congressional Budget Office estimates that 24 million people would lose their healthcare coverage if the Republican federal proposal is implemented. In addition, the healthcare plan would dramatically slash Medicaid funding by approximately $880 billion over a period of 10 years. In Illinois, such cuts would mean a $40 billion reduction in Medicaid spending over the same period, affecting an estimated one million Illinois residents who currently have coverage under the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).

The Republican health plan would also strip an Obamacare provision that prevented insurance companies from denying coverage for a pre-existing condition. Andrade voted for House Bill 2959 this spring to preserve this provision in Illinois if the federal changes occur.

“Big insurance companies are fighting tooth and nail to rewrite the rules and eliminate protections on pre-existing conditions—unfortunately it looks like they have found allies with Republican lawmakers in Washington,” Andrade said. “The health and well-being of working families should never take a backseat to corporate profits.”