For Immediate Release: March 2, 2017
Contact: Allison Krause | 315.679.6032

Statement of Todd Hobler, Vice President
1199SEIU Upstate / Western New York

“Western New York’s Congressman Chris Collins, a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Health Subcommittee, is one of several members of the House who are charged with marking up and voting on the most recent Republican plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. The markup process could begin as early as today.

This is a significant responsibility with real consequences for millions of New Yorkers, including over 200,000 in the greater Buffalo area. In the most recent version of the proposal publicly available, Medicaid costs would be shifted to states, putting seniors, children and people with disabilities at risk of losing their health coverage and endangering the survival of rural hospitals and other key community providers.

Despite these potentially devastating consequences for Western New York, Congressman Collins said Wednesday that his Committee will take this vote without a Congressional Budget Office estimate of how many people will actually lose health insurance and how much the new plan will cost.

With the stakes so high, it would be rash and reckless for Congressman Collins to take this vote without more information. We call on him to postpone the vote until the CBO estimate is released."

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1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East is the largest and fastest-growing healthcare union in America. We represent over 400,000 nurses and caregivers throughout Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Washington, D.C. and Florida. Our mission is to achieve quality care and good jobs for all.