Both men have pushed for a provision that would cause 27,000 of Congressman Rokita’s constituents and nearly 25,000 of Congressman Messer’s to lose their care
INDIANAPOLIS – A major provision written into the McConnell tax bill which both Congressmen Messer and Rokita support would cause 13 million Americans to lose their health care, including tens of thousands of Hoosiers living in their two House districts.
Having repeatedly tried and failed to pass a full sabotage of the nation’s health care system this summer, Republicans are now packing their tax bill with proposals that would dismantle crucial provisions underlying the health care marketplaces. The McConnell bill would now wreak havoc with both our tax and health care systems, leading to 13 million Americans losing their health care. That is still more than half of the 23 million Americans who would have lost their care if the full-scale repeal that Congressmen Messer and Rokita voted for in May had been signed into law.
While the provision was initially left out of the House bill, both Washington Republicans running for Senate have called for it to be included in the final proposal, most recently in a letter yesterday written to the conference committee. It appears that it will be included in the final version of the bill, according to a statement of principles released by the conference committee this afternoon.
Congressmen Messer and Rokita continue to push for the proposal even though its negative effects have become clearer both for the whole country and the districts they represent. According to an analysis of the McConnell bill, 27,400 of Congressman Rokita’s constituents would lose their health care, as well as 24,800 Hoosiers in Congressman Messer’s district.
“Having tried and repeatedly failed to push their partisan health care bill through Congress, Washington Republicans like Congressmen Messer and Rokita are back at it again with their backdoor attempt to dismantle the health care system through the McConnell tax bill,” said Will Baskin-Gerwitz, Senior Media Strategist for the Indiana Democratic Party. “Supporting this provision does little more than harm tens of thousands of their own constituents purely for political gain. The McConnell bill is already an awful tax bill, so why do Congressmen Messer and Rokita want to add insult to injury by making it an awful health care bill as well?”
This release is part of day three of the Indiana Democrats’ 12 Days of Taxes, a daily series highlighting the problems the McConnell tax bill would create if passed this holiday season. While the McConnell plan would raise taxes on middle class Americans to fund more tax breaks for the wealthy and major corporations, its consequences stretch across American life.
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