Today, U.S. Congressman Scott Peters (CA-52) urged bipartisanship after a majority of U.S. Senators came out against the most recent health care repeal bill, effectively ending the Republican efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act by themselves. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has called for a vote to completely repeal the Affordable Care Act, which would leave 32 million Americans without health care, double premiums for those who still have insurance, and strip away protections for the sick. President Trump has suggested letting the current system “fail.”

Rep. Peters released the following statement:

“The failure of the Republicans’ misguided effort to replace the Affordable Care Act by themselves is good news for the millions of Americans who would have seen their premiums rise or lost their health insurance altogether under the Republican plan.

“Now is not the time for Republicans to double down on their partisan strategy, or for Democrats to high-five over the other side’s political disaster.

“Full repeal or failure of the current system would take us back to a time where an unexpected illness can bankrupt a family and our emergency rooms are full of parents seeking basic care for their children.

“Americans don’t send leaders to D.C. to fail, they send us here to work together on solutions. Now is the time for Democrats and Republicans to get serious about bipartisan health care solutions.

“Last week, my colleagues and I introduced a plan – Solutions Over Politics – to stabilize the individual health insurance market to increase choice for Americans that use the exchanges and slow growth of premiums and deductibles. These are solutions that members of both parties can support, and should be the starting point for a bipartisan, open process to protect what is working in our health care system, and fix what isn’t.”

Last week, Rep. Peters and his colleagues introduced the five-part Solutions Over Politics health care plan that includes Rep. Peters’ priorities to make federal reinsurance programs permanent, commit to long-term funding for Cost-Sharing Reduction Payments, and boost the participation of young, healthy enrollees in the marketplace. These solutions are aimed at increasing choice and keeping costs down. A robust reinsurance stability fund would reduce premiums in 2018 by an average of 15%. Continuing to fund CSR payments would save the government $2.3 billion in spending per year and help working families afford health care. And without enforcement (or effective replacement) of the current mandate, average premiums in 2018 and 2019 are projected to increase 15 percent to 20 percent higher than they would otherwise.