The United Nations contacted the Trump administration earlier this year about its efforts to repeal ObamaCare, according to a new report.
The U.N.’s “urgent appeal” asked whether scrapping ObamaCare without a suitable replacement would violate global law, The Washington Post reported Tuesday.
The Post reported that the Feb. 2 memo was sent from the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR) in Geneva.
{mosads}“Recent reports have assessed the negative impact that this reform may have on the right to health of almost 30 million people in the U.S.,” the letter says.
“I wish to express serious concern over the impact of these measures on the rights to the enjoyment of the highest sustainable standard of physical and mental health and the right to social security of the people in the United States of America.”
Dainius Puras, the “special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health,” signed the memo.
Xabier Celaya, an OHCHR spokesman, told the Post that Puras signed the letter but cannot comment on it until it becomes public.
Puras reportedly plans on discussing the inquiry at the U.N. Human Rights Council’s next session in June.
The Post said Puras’s memo was sent to the State Department, and the OHCHR asked that copies go to majority and minority congressional leaders.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer’s (D-N.Y.) offices each told the Post that they had not seen the letter.
Speaker Paul Ryan’s (R-Wis.) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) offices echoed those statements, as did the State Department.
House Republicans are haggling over the details of legislation to repeal and replace ObamaCare as President Trump reaches his 100th day in office this Saturday.
Trump experienced a stinging defeat last month when GOP leaders withdrew an ObamaCare replacement bill he supported when it lacked the votes to pass the House.