Biden returning to Washington in push to save ObamaCare ahead of repeal vote
Go, Joe!!! This is a BFD!
http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/324767-biden-to-to-push-for-preserving-obamacare-ahead-of-gops-repeal-vote
Biden returning to Washington in push to save ObamaCare ahead of repeal vote
By Jessie Hellmann - 03/20/17 11:16 AM EDT
Former Vice President Joe Biden will return to Washington, D.C., Wednesday to join Democrats rallying to save ObamaCare in one of his first major public appearances since leaving office.
Biden will join House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and other Democratic leaders on the front steps of the Capitol to mark the seventh anniversary of ObamaCare's passage, Pelosi's office said Monday.
The event comes one day before the House plans to vote on repealing President Obama's landmark healthcare plan, although many conservatives have threatened to withhold their support.
Biden and Democrats will focus on the people who gained health insurance coverage under the law and the potential effects of its repeal.
An analysis released by the Congressional Budget Office earlier this month showed 24 million people could lose coverage by 2026 if Republicans pass their repeal bill.
Older, low-income people could be particularly hard hit, facing higher premiums and more out-of-pocket costs.
GOP leadership is expected to make tweaks to its plan to direct more assistance toward older people with low incomes.
The plan, in its current form, downsizes the subsidies given to people to help them buy insurance and awards them based on age, not income. It also repeals the individual mandate requiring everyone to buy insurance and ends the Medicaid expansion in 2020. The plan is facing resistance both from moderate lawmakers concerned about people losing coverage and conservatives who say the plan doesn't go far enough in repealing the Affordable Care Act.
Pelosi criticized the plan Sunday on CBS's "Face the Nation."
"What they have put forth is a terrible bill — 24 million people kicked off of health insurance, which the Speaker calls an act of mercy," she said.
"And what's so strange about it all, is many of the people, many of the millions of people who are benefiting from the Affordable Care Act, voted for Donald Trump."
