Republican health care plan passed in House

U.S.+Rep.+Jan+Schakowsky+%28D-Ill.%29+speaks+at+an+Open+Communities+event+in+February.+Schakowsky+voted+against+the+new+bill%2C+and+expressed+concern+about+cutting+Medicaid+funding.

Daily file photo by Katie Pach

U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) speaks at an Open Communities event in February. Schakowsky voted against the new bill, and expressed concern about cutting Medicaid funding.

Amelia Langas, Reporter

The House of Representatives passed a bill Thursday that would repeal former President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act and would enact a new Republican health care plan called the American Health Care Act.

If the bill passes the Senate, 24 million Americans whose health insurance was covered by the ACA would no longer have health care coverage under the AHCA. In a statement Thursday, President Donald Trump said the bill has many benefits and will only become “better” as it goes through the Senate.

“Premiums will be coming down, deductibles will be coming down,” Trump said.

U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), and state Sen. Daniel Biss (D-Evanston) all expressed concern about the passing of the AHCA.

Schakowsky, who voted against the bill, said in a statement that Republicans favored a $600 billion tax cut for wealthy people and corporations and would achieve that by cutting Medicaid funding by $800 billion.

“(Republicans) have voted in favor of a bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act … opposed the will of the American people … ignored the warnings of (health care professionals),” Schakowsky said in the statement. “They have told their constituents that they care more about toeing the party line than protecting the health care of millions of Americans.”

Biss also issued a statement expressing his concern for people with pre-existing conditions who would lose their health care coverage. He said if elected governor, he would protect those with pre-existing conditions from the premium increases they would be subjected to under the AHCA.

In a statement released Thursday, Durbin also stated his concern for the passing of the bill.

“I will fight this Republican health care repeal in the Senate until Hell freezes over,” he said in the statement.

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