PROVIDENCE (AP) – Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo says a plan in Congress to repeal President Barack Obama’s health care law puts thousands of Rhode Island residents at risk of losing care and will make health care more expensive for those who can least afford it.
The Democratic governor said in a written statement Tuesday that she’ll do everything in her power to oppose what she calls Trumpcare. A new health bill was released this week as congressional Republicans and President Donald Trump try to make good on campaign promises to repeal and replace Obama’s Affordable Care Act.
Raimondo says Obama’s reforms have worked in Rhode Island, which has one of the nation’s lowest uninsured rates. She says the state has successfully controlled Medicaid costs without reducing benefits or eligibility.
U.S. Reps. David Cicilline and Jim Langevin criticized the proposal Tuesday. So did the state Senate’s health committee chairman, Democratic Sen. Josh Miller, who says it would make more people uninsured and the health system more expensive.
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse issued the following statement: “Now I understand why Republicans didn’t want to show us this plan. TrumpCare will make Americans pay more, for fewer benefits, and leave millions without any coverage whatsoever. It decimates Medicaid, forcing low-income families, those with disabilities, and seniors to fend for themselves, and uses the savings to cut taxes for the wealthy. It defunds Planned Parenthood, where millions of women and men get important health care services. It defunds Medicare, significantly reducing its solvency. And as the opioid crisis rages in Rhode Island and around the country, it threatens coverage for addiction treatment. It even hands health insurance companies an incentive to dole out multi-million-dollar salaries to their CEOs. If President Trump wanted a plan that breaks virtually all of his campaign promises on health care, this is it.”
