U.S. Senator Chris Murphy, D-Conn., defended the Affordable Care Act in a speech on the Senate floor on Thursday. Murphy also used the speech to accuse his Republican colleagues of being in an irresponsible rush to repeal President Obama’s signature legislation.
Murphy says there appears to be a cruelty to the enthusiasm with which Republicans want to immediately repeal the ACA without a replacement. He says such a move would be devastating for millions of Americans who now have health insurance through the ACA. He gave the example of his constituent Jonathan Miller from Meriden who was born with cystic fibrosis.
“Jonathan without the Affordable Care Act, even if he had health insurance would lose it, probably a couple of months into the year because of a practice prior to the Affordable Care Act of capping the amount of money you’d be covered for in a given year or in a lifetime. Jonathan would have blown through that in a heartbeat. And so its not hyperbole when he says ‘Without the Affordable Care Act, I’d probably be dead, within months.’”
Murphy urged his Republican colleagues not to repeal the ACA unless they have a replacement that would guarantee everyone keep their health insurance, costs don’t go up and benefits don’t come down.
