Skip to main content
Statement

MomsRising on the Inclusion of the ACA Mandate Repeal in the Senate Tax Bill

November 15, 2017
Health Care

Lisa Lederer, 202-371-1996

Yesterday, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said that the Senate tax bill would include a provision to do away with the Affordable Care Act’s mandate that all Americans have health insurance. The repeal of the individual mandate would remove the incentive for younger, healthier Americans who buy their insurance through the individual market to purchase coverage, tilting the market toward older, sicker consumers—in turn, decreasing the number of insurers who participate in the marketplace.
 
In reaction to the news, Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, CEO and executive director of MomsRising, an online and on-the-ground organization of more than 1 million mothers and their families, issued the following statement: 
 
“U.S. Senate Republicans are moving forward on a disastrous tax plan, one that would raise taxes on 1 in 3 middle class families and repeal the individual mandate which is a vital piece of the Affordable Care Act. This would leave 13 million Americans without health insurance and raise premiums in the individual marketplace by 10 percent in most years over the next decade—all to give massive tax cuts to millionaires, billionaires, and giant corporations. This is shameful and only makes a bad bill worse.
 
“Earlier this year, in one of the GOP’s previous attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate, the Congressional Budget Office concluded that repealing the mandate would raise premiums by double-digits and sow widespread chaos in the individual marketplace. The moms of America will not stand for this attack on our families and our health—and call on Congressional Republicans who rejected previous attempts to strip health insurance from millions of Americans to join with Democrats once again to defeat this bill.”
 

# # # #

MomsRising.org is an on-the-ground and online grassroots organization of more than a million people who are working to increase family economic security, decrease discrimination against women and moms, and to build a nation where businesses and families can thrive. Established in 2006, MomsRising and its members are organizing and speaking out to improve public policy and to change the national dialogue on issues that are critically important to America’s families, including criminal justice reform, immigration policy reform, and gun safety. MomsRising is working for paid family and medical leave, affordable, high quality childcare and early learning, and for an end to the wage and hiring discrimination which penalizes women — particularly moms and women of color — and so many others. MomsRising advocates for access to healthy food for all kids, health care for all, earned sick days, and breastfeeding rights so that all children can have a healthy start. MomsRising maintains a Spanish language website: MamásConPoder.org. Sign up online at www.MomsRising.org — and follow us on our blog, and on Twitter and Facebook.