In Wake of GOP Healthcare Bill Collapse, Workers Strengthen Resolve to Protect and Improve Healthcare for All

July 18, 2017

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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Nikko Mendoza | 617-990-2487
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In Wake of GOP Healthcare Bill Collapse, Workers Strengthen Resolve to Protect and Improve Healthcare for All

Boston, MA (July 18, 2017) – In response to the failure of Senate Republicans’ healthcare bill, Tyrék D. Lee, Sr., Executive Vice President of 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, issued the following statement:

“The collapse of Senate Republicans’ healthcare bill is a victory for all those fighting to protect the health of Massachusetts residents and the most vulnerable among us in states across the nation. Senate Republicans put forward a cruel and shameful piece of legislation that would have stripped healthcare coverage from millions of hardworking Americans, increased out of pocket costs and weakened protections for people with pre-existing conditions. Just as devastating, the bill would have gutted Medicaid – costing Massachusetts billions of dollars, creating severe financial strain for our hospitals, threatening jobs, and jeopardizing coverage for hundreds of thousands of children, families and seniors across the state.

The failure of this catastrophic bill highlights the critical importance of advocacy and the vital role that our collective voice plays in fighting this assault on healthcare. Yet our fight is far from over. While today is an important win, we have seen that despite overwhelming opposition, Congressional Republicans are content with leaving working families without healthcare coverage and Medicaid just to give a massive tax cut to the very wealthy. It’s time they end the back room dealing and listen to the millions of healthcare workers, providers, consumers and advocates across the country who joined together to stop this disastrous bill in its tracks.

We demand a transparent process and a bipartisan solution that provides quality, affordable healthcare coverage for all Americans. We will continue to resist repeal of our healthcare without a viable plan to improve it. And we remain vigilant in our fight to protect the health and economic gains Massachusetts has achieved as a result of our leadership on healthcare.”

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Representing more than 56,000 healthcare workers throughout Massachusetts and over 400,000 workers across the East Coast, 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East is the largest and fastest-growing healthcare union in America. Our mission is to achieve affordable, high quality healthcare for all. 1199SEIU is part of the 2.1 million member Service Employees International Union.