The U.S. Senate delegation from Oregon issued strong rebukes Friday of a federal judge’s decision that declared unconstitutional the entire health-care law passed under former President Barack Obama.
Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, both Democrats, issued statements and took to Twitter to blast the ruling, which will be appealed. Here’s what they said:
“Today’s ruling is an assault on all Americans’ basic health care rights and judicial overreach at its worst. Trump and Republicans in Congress will achieve their long-sought goals if this ruling stands: the elimination of pre-existing condition protections and Medicaid coverage for millions of vulnerable Americans. Seniors will pay more for their prescriptions and middle-class families will lose tax breaks that keep their health care affordable. This judge chose to deliver his ruling the day before the end of open enrollment - a deliberate, ideological move to sabotage the Affordable Care Act at the expense of families’ health care. If you or your loved ones need health care, you should still sign up as planned at Healthcare.gov before the open enrollment deadline at end of the day tomorrow despite this attempted sabotage.” -- Ron Wyden
“The diabolical Republican plan to strip health care from millions of Americans just took a big step forward. Now the fight goes to the circuit court. Time for Medicare for all.” -- Jeff Merkley
-- Brad Schmidt
bschmidt@oregonian.com
503-294-7628
@_brad_schmidt