House votes to repeal Affordable Care Act

The U.S. House just voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act by a vote of 245-189.

Task Force Executive Director Rea Carey issued the following statement in response to the vote:

“House leadership is trying to block access to quality health care for tens of millions of Americans — this while members of Congress enjoy comprehensive health care and benefits largely paid for by the American people. Repeal will also add a whopping $230 billion to the federal debt by 2021, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. There is something terribly wrong with this picture.

“Fact is, the Affordable Care Act will help ensure access to health care for roughly 32 million Americans who are uninsured — including many lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people — and will end some of the health insurance industry’s most egregious abuses. Proponents of repeal are trying to roll us back to the bad old days when it was perfectly okay to deny Americans adequate and affordable coverage for no sound reason; when millions of children and adults with so-called ‘pre-existing conditions’ were denied coverage; and when many Americans feared going bankrupt because of health care.

“Our entire country feels the negative effects of a broken and imbalanced health care system. People of color and economically impoverished people are disproportionately affected by health care disparities. The Affordable Care Act is simply a step to rectify this inequity. We thank those House members who voted ‘no’ on repeal and urge the Senate to hold the line against these politics-as-usual shenanigans.”