July 25, 2017 01:16 PM UTC

Gardner Breaks Promises to Colorado as Health Care Repeal Advances

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• by: ProgressNow Colorado

POLS UPDATE #2: Colorado Democratic Party chair Morgan Carroll:

“Today, Republican Senator Cory Gardner decided that tax breaks for millionaires are more important than health care for millions and more important than the survival of Colorado’s rural hospitals.

“Just 24 percent of Coloradans approve of the Republican health care repeal, and only 27 percent of Coloradans approve of Cory Gardner. Those numbers will only get worse as hundreds of thousands of Coloradans are set to lose their health care and premiums are set to skyrocket because of Gardner’s vote.

“Senator Gardner might think that he can get away with this reckless vote since he’s not up for re-election until 2020. He is mistaken. Colorado voters will not forget that when their health care — and in some cases, their lives — were on the line, Cory Gardner sold them out to give a tax break to millionaires and billionaires.”

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POLS UPDATE: Denver7’s Blair Miller reports:

U.S. Senator Cory Gardner voted Tuesday in favor of the motion to proceed to a Senate floor debate on Republicans’ efforts to repeal, and possibly replace, the Affordable Care Act—despite not knowing what bill the Senate might take up to debate first.

The final vote came down to Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Sen. John McCain of Arizona, who came back to the Senate just days after being diagnosed with brain cancer to cast a vote…

McCain spoke after the successful vote, saying he proud of his Senate tenure, but also saying that he wouldn’t vote for a bill as they stand today, that procedures and deliberations in the Senate weren’t currently at their best, and that the Senate wasn’t “producing the best for the American people.”

Here’s Sen Cory Gardner’s statement:

“Under Obamacare, Coloradans have had to pay for double digit premium increases year after year and the 27 percent average increase for premiums on the individual market next year is only more of the same. While 500,000 Coloradans have had their plans cancelled, 145,000 Coloradans were forced to pay a penalty under Obamacare instead of purchasing insurance because their options have become so limited and unaffordable. In every healthcare meeting with Coloradans, we discuss the problems of Obamacare and how the status quo is simply unacceptable.

“I voted to allow debate today because we can no longer subject Coloradans to a failing healthcare system without working toward solutions, and today’s vote will allow that debate to continue. We can now offer amendments in an open setting to fix our nation’s healthcare system and bring relief to the American people.”

Technically, the motion approved today was to proceed with debate on the legislation passed by the House in early May. That legislation, as the Congressional Budget Office revealed after the bill was passed, would reduce the number of insured Americans by some 23 million versus current law. That estimate remains the baseline until amendments are offered later in the debate–leading toward either passage in the event some kind of deal can be crafted between opposing Republican factions, or another failure. At this point, the former remains the most likely outcome, which would make this vote to proceed on the House’s bill the proverbial high water mark.

What Coloradans know now is that Gardner, whatever he says, will not be our salvation.

Original post follows.

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After the U.S. Senate advanced the latest attempt to repeal the landmark 2010 Affordable Care Act, which has reduced the rate of uninsured people in Colorado to historic lows and provided essential health benefits to millions of Americans, ProgressNow Colorado, the state’s largest online progressive advocacy organization, called on Gardner to apologize to the people of Colorado for once again putting politics over our best interests.

“Today, Republicans in Washington have taken the first step to hurt millions of their fellow Americans in the name of tax breaks for the wealthy,” said ProgressNow Colorado executive director Ian Silverii. “The bill Sen. Cory Gardner voted for today will undo the gains our state has made in covering the uninsured, and endanger health services in rural communities like the small town Gardner hails from. Cory Gardner promised to protect Medicaid patients, but today he broke that promise. Gardner promised to deliver a replacement for Obamacare that was better, but what he voted for today would hurt millions of Americans and thousands of Coloradans—the very same people the Affordable Care Act has helped.”

“The voters of Colorado do not support the repeal of Obamacare,” said Silverii. “Poll after poll shows that the Affordable Care Act is more popular than ever, even as Republicans continue attempting to destroy it. Gardner’s own approval rating has plunged below 30%, driven by dissatisfaction on both sides with his inability to make good on his promises. Gardner’s false claims against the Affordable Care Act have given way to the reality of what repeal would mean for his constituents. No matter what happens next, Gardner has done irreparable damage to his political career. The voters of Colorado will not forget Cory Gardner’s betrayal today.”