WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp today issued the following statement after the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office released a report on the Republican health care bill which the U.S. House of Representatives passed three weeks ago.

“The CBO report confirms that the Republican health care bill is just cruel and is bad for North Dakota,” said Heitkamp. “The bill would rip away health care from 23 million Americans by 2026, including more than 28,000 North Dakotans. It could also make coverage unaffordable for the more than 300,000 North Dakotans with pre-existing conditions like asthma, cancer, or being pregnant. And it would disproportionately hurt those in rural communities like families all across North Dakota who rely on rural health clinics and rural hospitals for coverage. The biggest savings in the bill would come from about $830 billion in cuts to Medicaid -- a lifesaving, cost effective program that has enabled more than 90,000 seniors, individuals and children with disabilities, and low-income families in North Dakota get affordable, quality care. It is also is a critical resource for individuals receiving treatment for opioid abuse and addiction which has reached epidemic levels in our state. But here’s the kicker: the bill would do all of this while giving individuals making more than $200,000 a tax cut. That isn’t right. In fact, it’s downright mean. Those who voted for this bill should know better – it was a vote for their own self-interest, and certainly not one that stands up for the people of our country or North Dakota.

“I’ve long said there are good pieces of the health reform law and pieces that need to be fixed, and that’s a conversation I have wanted to have for years. In 2013, I convened the initial meeting with my health care advisory board made up of health care leaders from across the state and we have continued to meet to talk about how to improve the health reform law. Over the past three and a half years, I’ve offered a variety of reforms to make sure the health reform law works better for families and businesses. Republicans and Democrats need to have this critical conversation, and I’m willing to work with anyone to do what is best for my state. But this bill, which is terrible for North Dakota, is a non-starter.”

The CBO report specifically says individuals and children with pre-existing conditions would face exorbitant costs for coverage, which could make it unaffordable for them to receive lifesaving care:

“Community-rated premiums would rise over time, and people who are less healthy (including those with preexisting or newly acquired medical conditions) would ultimately be unable to purchase comprehensive nongroup health insurance at premiums comparable to those under current law, if they could purchase it at all—despite the additional funding that would be available under H.R. 1628 to help reduce premiums.” 

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