Pelosi Statement on GOP Sabotage Campaign to Lower ACA Enrollment

Contact: Ashley Etienne/Caroline Behringer, 202-226-7616

Washington, D.C. — Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi released the following statement after it was announced that enrollment in the Affordable Care Act's insurance Marketplaces under President Trump declined compared to last year's enrollment under President Obama:

"The Republican Pay More For Less bill is a moral monstrosity that will devastate working families across America. With no way to sell it to their constituents, Republicans continue to grasp at straws to justify their disastrous bill. Part of that effort has been Republicans' cynical and willful campaign to depress Americans' enrollment for 2017 in the affordable health coverage on the Marketplaces.

"As of December 24, 11.5 million Americans had signed up for coverage in the Marketplaces – about 300,000 more than at the same time in the previous year. But since taking power, Republicans have taken actions to push 2017 enrollment down. On his first night in the White House, President Trump issued an executive order to pour uncertainty into the future of the insurance marketplaces. Soon thereafter, the Trump Administration abruptly scaled back much of the advertising and outreach efforts that help remind Americans to complete their enrollment applications. Republicans' hand in the enrollment numbers is obvious.

"Republicans think they can point to the small dip in enrollment they manufactured, and justify a devastating Pay More For Less bill that would push 24 million Americans off their health coverage. They have no idea how to explain stealing $600 billion from working families' health care to give more tax breaks to the richest people in our country. The transparent cynicism and cruelty of the Republican strategy insults the intelligence of the American people."

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