Seniors would pay more for Medicare, and budget would also take a hit
OLYMPIA — The two chairs of the health care committees in the state capitol say what’s happening in the other Washington — Washington D.C. — could have terrible effects here at home.
“We need to keep making progress on giving people better, more affordable health care,” said Sen. Karen Keiser (D-Kent), chair of the Senate Health and Long-Term Care Committee. “Undoing health-care reform before it even got started would mean more kids and workers who don’t have health coverage, and more seniors making the choice to pay for medicine or pay the electricity bill to keep them warm in the winter.”
This week, Congress is supposed to take up legislation to overturn the national health-care reform legislation, a landmark reform that marked the first time in decades that Congress and the White House passed a law that truly tackled the nation’s health-care system.
“Repealing or defunding health-care reform would be a disaster for seniors, kids and taxpayers,” said Rep. Eileen Cody (D-Seattle), a registered nurse and chair of the House Health Care and Wellness Committee. “It might score political points for members of Congress, but it would do nothing but hurt families and businesses from Bellingham to Walla Walla.”
Cody and Keiser pointed out that health care costs are a huge part of the state’s budget, and with lawmakers and the governor working hard to close an estimated $5 billion budget deficit, it would be wrong-headed to undo reforms that actually safe taxpayers money.
If reform were repealed or defunded:
- 897,000 seniors in Washington state with Medicare coverage would pay more for checkups and other health care if reform gets repealed;
- 3.8 million residents in our state would be faced with lifetime limits on how much their health insurance would pay for their benefits; and
- 20,500 young adults, many of them college students, would lose coverage through their parents health plan.
“Without reform, we’ll have more people in emergency rooms and more small businesses unable to give workers health coverage for their families,” Cody said. “That’s not moving forward. That’s moving backward. Let’s work together to fix health care so everybody wins.”
FOR MORE
Sen. Karen Keiser / 360-786-7664 / karen.keiser@leg.wa.gov
Rep. Eileen Cody / 360-786-7978 / eileen.cody@leg.wa.gov