Washington, DC — Today, U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Tina Smith (D-MN) alongside Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA) unveiled a new proposal to improve and expand access to health care for Americans in response to the coronavirus crisis. Their proposal includes much needed action to expand premium tax credits and financial assistance for families impacted by the crisis, open a special enrollment period, restore funding for outreach, further expand Medicaid, strengthen protections for pre-existing conditions and crack down on junk insurance plans that don’t cover these protections. In response to their proposal, Protect Our Care Chair Leslie Dach issued the following statement:
“There has never been a more important time to ensure Americans have access to quality and affordable health care and the proposal unveiled by Senators Shaheen and Smith along with Senators Wyden and Murray makes it clear Senate Democrats understand those critical health care needs. Their plan is in stark contrast to the ongoing efforts by President Trump and his Republican enablers in Congress to rip health care away from 20 million Americans and protections for 135 million with pre-existing conditions. Incentivizing holdout states to expand Medicaid, opening a special enrollment period for the uninsured, and making health insurance more affordable are common sense solutions to helping Americans get quality, affordable care. President Trump and Republicans in Congress need to stop pushing junk insurance plans that don’t cover pre-existing conditions and drop their Texas lawsuit to terminate the ACA that would rip coverage away from 20 million Americans in the middle of the crisis.”