As the House waited to find out whether President Trump and Speaker Paul Ryan would continue to push for a vote on Trumpcare, Rep. John Lewis (D-GA), a civil rights hero, gave a moving speech on the House floor. Lewis implored the House to vote against the bill for the sake of the “disabled, women, seniors, and working families” whose health insurance would be most affected by the bill.
“Mr. Speaker, I have said it time and time again. Health care is a right. It is not a privilege reserved for a wealthy few,” Lewis said. “It doesn’t profit this body to pass this bill and lose our soul. This bill is a shame. It is a disgrace. Mr. Speaker, today my heart breaks for the disabled, for women, for seniors, and working families.”
He added, “I will fight any bill that turns the clock back to a darker time. I will fight every single attempt to turn a deaf ear, blind eye, and cold shoulder to the sick. To our seniors, and to working families. Mr. Speaker, I will fight every day, every hour, every minute, and every second.”
You can watch Rep. Lewis’ full remarks here.
Before major changes to the bill, the original version of the American Health Care Act already hurt some of the country’s most vulnerable populations. Low-income people would be hurt by the end of Medicaid expansion, and chronically sick people often have gaps in coverage, which means that they would be subject to the 30 percent surcharge for people who go without insurance for too long.
Insurance companies would be allowed to charge elderly Americans up to five times more than young people. Annual premiums would would rise 22 percent for people between the ages 60 to 64 and people in their 50s would see a 13 percent in annual premiums, according to the AARP Public Policy Institute.
But the legislation has become much worse for women, disabled people, seniors, and working families over the past week. The Freedom Caucus pushed for changes to the bill that would make it harder for women to access maternity care, for example. Republican leaders have added further cuts to Medicaid, ended Medicaid expansion earlier, included language allowing states to impose work requirements for some Medicaid recipients, and gutted Obamacare’s essential health benefits requirement, which required coverage for maternity care, emergency services, and substance abuse treatment.