At first glance, Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler’s recently released letter to Washington State Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler gives the impression that she is looking out for her constituents. Instead she is attempting to shift blame. She chides him for failure to fix health care access problems in Pacific County, problems created by persistent Republican efforts to undermine the Affordable Care Act.
At the same time, Herrera Beutler hypocritically supports the Republican tax bill which will increase health care access problems. This bill will further undermine, if not eliminate, the ACA and is a key step in the long-term Republican plan to reduce Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
In October, Republicans allowed the expiration of the Children’s Health Insurance Program, which provides health care funding for 9 million children. Every state, including Washington, is scrambling to find some way to prevent catastrophic loss of health care for the most vulnerable children. If our representative were truly concerned about health care access she would be loudly fighting for the restoration of CHIP.
Herrera Beutler has made the choice to support the Republican tax reform bill and to expedite the Republican plans to gut the safety nets critical to the well-being of all except the very rich. Don’t be deceived.