Duckworth: Trump putting veterans on chopping block to jam through repeal bill

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today criticized President Trump and his Republican allies in Congress for including a provision in their health care repeal bill that threatens to make it harder for millions of Veterans to receive healthcare. The provision, which could harm as many as 7 million Veterans who do not receive their care through the VA, would prohibit any Veteran from receiving tax credits to help them afford private insurance coverage.

“This President’s habit of breaking promises is well documented but pushing a plan that makes it harder for millions of Veterans to get the healthcare they need sinks to a new low,” said Senator Duckworth. “This goes beyond partisan politics. The President and his Republican allies are putting Veterans on the chopping block in order to jam this misguided, harmful repeal through Congress. They should be ashamed of themselves.”

During his campaign, President Trump promised that he would take care of Veterans and provide them with government-funded healthcare. This last-minute provision breaks that promise by making health insurance more expensive for potentially millions of brave Americans who have served in uniform. The Veterans affected by this provision would, in fact, end up worse off than they are today as a result of the President’s plan. It is currently unclear whether the provision was added intentionally, meaning the President is knowingly breaking his promise, or unintentionally, meaning the President wants Congress to vote without knowing what they’re voting on—or if there are other problematic provisions the American people don’t yet know of.

Not standing up for Veterans is far from the only campaign pledge the President has broken since taking office. During his campaign, President Trump also promised the American people that his health care plan would cover everyone and lower premiums, something the plan he’s trying to push through Congress simply does not do. A nonpartisan analysis of the first version of the President’s plan—before the provision making health care more expensive for Veterans was added—found that it would result in 24 million people losing their health insurance while working people and older Americans will face significantly higher premiums and deductibles, leaving them with more out-of-pocket costs.

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