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“Though a bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act has now passed the House, it has virtually no chance of passing the Senate in its current form...”

WASHINGTON – Today, the Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), Congressman Cedric Richmond (D-LA-02), sent a letter to President Trump urging him to stop undermining the Affordable Care Act (ACA) or “Obamacare.” Since President Trump took office, he has issued an executive order that allows federal agencies to disregard the ACA’s individual mandate, ended regular government advertisements aimed at encouraging Americans to enroll in ACA, and threatened to end cost-sharing reduction payments that help Americans pay for out-of-pocket healthcare costs. The full text of the letter is attached.

“I urge you to promptly rescind all executive orders and actions designed to sabotage the healthcare markets upon which millions of Americans rely for coverage.  While the ACA may not be perfect, it is the law of the land.  Unfortunately, its vulnerabilities have been exacerbated by your administration’s attempts to destabilize key elements of the law.  If you do not undo these harmful actions, the responsibility for any failure of our nation’s healthcare markets will be yours and yours alone,” Chairman Richmond wrote.

In the letter, Chairman Richmond also criticized the Republican bill to repeal and replace Obamacare that passed the House this afternoon.

“Though a bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act has now passed the House, it has virtually no chance of passing the Senate in its current form, based on various reported statements from Republican Senators. When this bill inevitably fails to pass the Senate, you will be left with two choices: You can accept that the ACA is here to stay and work with Democrats to improve the law; or you can deliberately undermine the ACA and try to blame Democrats for the consequences. The latter path is immoral and irresponsible because it will cause unspeakable pain to millions of Americans and devastate our economy.  The American people are smart enough to understand that you, and you alone, will be responsible,” Chairman Richmond wrote.