DNC chairman blasts ObamaCare repeal: Trump ‘will own every preventable death’

Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez blasted the Republican effort to repeal ObamaCare ahead of the House vote on Thursday, saying President Trump and Republicans “will own every preventable death” as a result.

“Trump and Republicans will own every preventable death, every untreated illness and every bankruptcy that American families will be forced to bear if this bill becomes law and millions lose access to affordable care,” he said in a statement. “The 24 million that lose access to healthcare is not just a number.”

That number comes from a Congressional Budget Office estimate that the number of people without health insurance would grow by 14 million in 2018 under the Republican ­ObamaCare replacement bill, with that number rising to 24 million in a decade. 

{mosads}“It represents fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers and even newborn babies with heart diseases or cancers that are too costly to treat without affordable insurance,” he said.

Perez also slammed the GOP’s ObamaCare repeal-and-replace bill for exempting members of Congress and their staffs from losing the healthcare bill’s popular provisions.

“As if this attack on ordinary Americans weren’t reprehensible enough, Republicans in Congress might keep ObamaCare’s best protections for themselves and their staffers, as they rip them away from their own constituents.”

The House will consider the American Health Care Act (AHCA) on Thursday in a high-stakes vote that is expected to come down to the wire. Republicans have indicated they will consider separate legislation closing the loophole allowing members of Congress and staff to opt out of the healthcare plan. 

Top House Republicans are predicting that they have the simply majority of votes needed for passage, trumpeting the expected victory as a win for their party on healthcare.

Republicans can only afford 21 defections on the AHCA, as no Democrats are expected to back the controversial measure.

Seventeen House Republicans currently oppose the bill, according to The Hill’s whip list.

Tags Democratic National Committee Democrats DNC Donald Trump Healthcare ObamaCare Republicans Tom Perez

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