On behalf of the 24 million people who will not lose their health insurance in the next 10 years, I want to thank Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler for coming out against the repeal of the Affordable Care Act. Her public opposition to the American Health Care Act made her one of 33 Republicans who ultimately sealed the fate of the potentially catastrophic bill.
While I disagree with her assessment of the efficacy of our current health care law, we both agree that the proposed bill would have caused significant harm to children, the elderly, and the poor.
I’m sure that she and I will be on opposite sides of many issues in the future. But for now I’m happy that she realized how damaging repealing the ACA and replacing it with the flawed and rushed AHCA would have been to our most vulnerable citizens. Anywhere from 60,000 to 100,000 people in her district were slated to lose their insurance under this bill. Many of them would have been my students, friends, and neighbors.
Rep. Herrera Beutler chose people over party. Her efforts have not gone unnoticed and her compassion is appreciated.
