***NEWS RELEASE***
Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom Calls for Full Repeal, with Possible Vote Before Recess
Congress Must Act in the Best Interest of the American People, Not for Big Insurance or Big Government
PAUL, Minn.—Now that the House and Senate have been back to work for a week, Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom (CCHF, www.cchfreedom.org) is continuing to call for the full repeal of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
Over the weekend, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced that a vote on the bill would be delayed while Sen. John McCain (R.-Ariz.) recovers from surgery. On Sunday, Sen. Rand Paul (R.-Ky.) told Politico that McConnell doesn’t have the votes to pass the bill. Paul has been an outspoken opponent of the GOP replacement.
“Obama upset the apple cart to give us Obamacare, but Republicans haven’t yet shown a willingness to upset the apple cart to give us back our freedom,” said CCHF president and co-founder Twila Brase. “Now there’s talk of the GOP writing a bipartisan bill to provide bailouts for health plans so they’ll stay in the government exchanges. But health plans are leaving the exchanges because they only agreed to participate in Obamacare if Americans were forced to buy their product and taxpayers were forced to fund premium subsidies, cost-sharing subsidies and three redistribution programs that put billions of dollars in the pockets of health plans.”
“If Republicans do the right thing for the American people rather than health plans,” she continued, “and simply repeal every word of the ACA, it will end all needless quibbling over the details of their non-repeal bill.”
Brase also said she is heartened by the push from Senators Ted Cruz and Mike Lee to add an “opt out of Obamacare” amendment to whatever is passed—a variation of policy CCHF suggested several weeks ago in D.C. when CCHF representatives asked members of Congress and their staffers to repeal the ACA’s prohibition on catastrophic coverage, if they did nothing else.
“The 6 million Americans who paid the penalty, the 20 million who found an exemption and anyone else who wants out should be able to get out of Obamacare-priced premiums,” Brase said. “They should be able to have a catastrophic indemnity policy—true insurance—that covers just the big stuff: cancer, coma, car crashes and major chronic conditions.
“Republicans have a lot to lose,” Brase continued. “We told GOP members and staffers that if they don’t hold a simple vote on full repeal of the law, they may be in trouble with those who voted to put them in power because of their commitment to repeal the ACA. Even if the vote for repeal failed, it would provide political protection for later actions. But if they never try—with President Trump in office, when it actually means something—they can’t say it was impossible to repeal Obamacare. Members can say they’ll vote against repeal, but when they have to push the button, anything’s possible. They should try.”
One of the ways CCHF seeks to restore health freedom, for both patients and doctors, is through the innovative initiative The Wedge of Health Freedom (www.JointheWedge.com), which recently marked one year in existence. Today, more than 200 medical practices in 44 states around the country have joined The Wedge, which is using third-party-free direct payment to transform the entire health care system back to freedom and restore simplicity, affordability and confidentiality.
For more information about CCHF, visit www.cchfreedom.org, its Facebook page or its Twitter feed @CCHFreedom. Also view the media page for CCHF here. For more about The Wedge of Health Freedom, visit www.JointheWedge.com, The Wedge Facebook page or follow The Wedge on Twitter @wedgeoffreedom.
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