DURBIN, DUCKWORTH ASK GOV TO‘ STAND UP’ AGAINST REPEAL OF OB AMA CARE
Democratic Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth on Tuesday sent Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner a letter urging him to “stand up” for Illinois residents and oppose the likely repeal of the Affordable Care Act.
The letter says the process of repealing the act without enacting a replacement plan “threatens to disrupt our entire health care system— subjecting patients, providers, hospitals and insurers to chaos.” The senators write that 1.2 million fewer Illinois residents would have health insurance in 2019 with a complete repeal without a replacement. It also cites Illinois Health and Hospital Association figures that estimate that Illinois could lose $ 11.6 billion to $ 13.1 billion annually, translating to the potential loss of 84,000 to 95,000 jobs.
“As governor of our state, we seek your input on how to improve our health care system and urge you to stand on the side of Illinoisans in opposing any action that would reduce coverage, increase costs, reduce the quality of health care, burden our providers or harm our state’s economy,” Durbin and Duckworth wrote.
President Donald Trump on Day One of his presidency signed an executive order “to seek the prompt repeal” of the Affordable Care Act. That order doesn’t change the law, but it directed agencies to interpret its regulations. At the same time, congressional Republicans are working to repeal major sections of the act, but there is no complete plan in place on how to replace Obamacare.
Rauner has said publicly that he doesn’t support a repeal of Obamacare without a replacement. He’s also said turning Medicaid into a block grant program wouldn’t be a good plan for Illinois.
Durbin on Monday told the Sun-Times that governors across the country should be standing up against a repeal.
“Governors like [ John] Kasich of Ohio are stepping up and saying eliminating Medicaid coverage is a disaster because that is compensation for providers that will go away. What we do know from the Illinois Hospital Association is that many downstate hospitals will be threatened if they lose this Medicaid infusion,” Durbin said.
In a statement regarding the senators’ letter, the Rauner administration on Tuesday noted Durbin was a lead proponent of Obamacare, which they said “resulted in skyrocketing health care costs on millions of Americans.”
“As Sens. Durbin and Duckworth well know, our administration has urged Congress to take a thoughtful approach to any new health care changes,” spokeswoman Catherine Kelly said.