Carper Statement on GOP Efforts to Repeal ACA

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), a senior member of the Finance committee, released the following statement after the Senate voted 51-48 to begin the process of repealing the Affordable Care Act (ACA) through budget reconciliation.

“The Affordable Care Act is landmark health care legislation that has provided over 20 million Americans, including more than 30,000 Delawareans, with affordable, reliable and comprehensive health insurance coverage. But over the last six years, my Republican colleagues in Congress have blocked funding for proper implementation of the law and commonsense improvements. Years of partisan gamesmanship culminated with a show in the Senate last night, where Republicans voted to begin the process to repeal the ACA.

“If the ACA is repealed before replacement health care legislation is enacted, the uncertainty and drastically slashed funding to states will send shock waves through our economy, have lasting damage to our entire health care system and put patients’ lives at risk. In Delaware, it’s estimated that our hospitals would collectively lose more than $1 billion, and we’re a small state. We cannot afford a reckless path that leaves millions of Americans in the lurch and doctors, hospitals, health centers, insurers and states with no recourse.

“I stand ready and willing to consider changes to our health care system that build on the progress made under the ACA and provide more comprehensive, affordable, high-quality health care coverage to more Americans and their families, but this current path is as foolish as it is dangerous. I implore my Republican colleagues to reverse course.”