Dem Sen. Baldwin: GOP Only Wants to Repeal Affordable Care Act that Requires Subsidies to Be Affordable, ‘System Is Broken’

On Wednesday’s broadcast of MS NOW’s “The Weeknight,” Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) said the healthcare system “is broken and needs a lot of work,” and complained that “The only plan I’ve ever seen from Republicans is repeal the Affordable Care Act.” She also argued we need subsidies in the ACA “so working families can afford their health care.”

Baldwin said, “His big, ugly bill brought — cut and slashed food stamps and Medicaid and gave tax cuts to the richest, the billionaires, the profitable corporations. And you know what should have been the centerpiece of that legislation? A tax break for working families so that they could afford their health care.”

She added, “So, remember that Republicans’ only plan for health care, and by the way, the system is broken and needs a lot of work, but the immediate crisis is extending these tax breaks so working families can afford their health care. The only plan I’ve ever seen from Republicans is repeal the Affordable Care Act. Ever since it was first passed and had all of those important protections so that people with pre-existing conditions could get coverage, get rid of lifetime limits and annual limits and all that stuff that was so important to get more Americans covered, they have never had a plan. And, in the last week before the open enrollment period closes, what do we see? Oh, a plan for HSAs, oh, a plan for a one-year extension with all sorts of limitations. Look, this is not sincere. They don’t have a plan. And they can either join us for the three-year extension tomorrow, or they can own the fact that Americans’ health insurance premiums are going to skyrocket.”

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