Washington, D.C., July 25, 2017—Today the U.S. Senate voted in favor of bringing to the floor a still to-be-determined version of a health care bill that would likely repeal essential patient protections and would result in patients paying far more for coverage or being forced off their insurance altogether. The legislation has not had any public hearings nor been fully evaluated by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office.
A statement from Chris Hansen, president of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, follows:
“Today’s procedural vote allows Congress to draft a health care bill on the Senate floor that could roll back significant patient protections without any input from patients or the health care industry about the impact the legislation would ultimately have on people who need coverage and access to affordable health care. What is known of the various bills Senate leadership has revealed and which CBO has scored is that the legislation would cause millions of Americans to lose their coverage.
“The planned twenty hours of floor debate is not sufficient to remake a bill that will significantly affect one-fifth of the economy and impact hundreds of millions of Americans’ access to health care.
“Having access to adequate, affordable health insurance is essential to our nation’s ability to continue reducing death and suffering from cancer. Thoughtful people on both sides of the political divide agree that the current health care law should be improved. Families affected by cancer need senators to work together and develop health care legislation in a bipartisan, deliberative process that helps patients rather than hurting them.”