Press Release – BETTER UTAH RESPONDS TO FAILURE OF AHCA

Salt Lake City, UT – After failing to secure sufficient votes to pass the American Health Care Act (AHCA), President Trump and Speaker Paul Ryan pulled the bill moments before it was scheduled for a vote.

Chase Thomas, Better Utah’s policy and advocacy counsel, issued the following statement:

“The defeat of the AHCA is a win for Utahns. We acknowledge improvements need to be made to the ACA, but this bill would only have made things worse. We are disappointed Utah’s representatives continued to support this bill or stand by the sidelines, knowing the passage of the AHCA would have led to tens of thousands of their constituents losing their health insurance.

“Healthcare should not be a partisan issue; it is a human rights issue and should be treated as such. As they continue working on this issue in the future, we call on Utah’s federal delegation to work towards ensuring every Utahn has access to affordable and quality health insurance.”

The AHCA was House Republicans’ effort to fulfill their longtime campaign promise to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as “Obamacare.” The AHCA failed to receive sufficient votes after the bill was amended to repeal the essential health benefits of the ACA, alienating moderate Republicans. According to estimates, the AHCA would have led to 24 million Americans losing insurance, with tens of thousands of those individuals being here in Utah.

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