Repeal would eliminate vital consumer protections for 445,000 residents of the 7th Congressional District

Washington, D.C. – Today, Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Malden), a senior member of the Energy and Commerce Committee and Dean of the Massachusetts Congressional delegation, highlighted a new report released today that details the impact of the Republicans’ Patients’ Rights Repeal Act on the hundreds of thousands of Americans who live in the Massachusetts’s 7th Congressional District.  This week, the House Republican Leadership is bringing this legislation to the House Floor for a vote.

“The Republican repeal effort is the wrong prescription for our country, our Commonwealth and the 7th Congressional District,” said Rep. Markey. “I strongly oppose this misguided effort, which would deny coverage to children with pre-existing conditions, allow insurance companies to refuse pregnant women coverage, and make Grandma and Grandpa pay more for their lifesaving drugs.  The health care law signed by President Obama last year already is helping middle class families, small businesses and seniors.  This repeal effort is a giant step backwards for Americans across the country, and I will continue to vigorously oppose it.”

The report on Massachusetts’s 7th District finds that under the Republican Patients’ Rights Repeal Act:

• 900 uninsured young people in the 7th District and 12,500 in the Boston area could not stay on their parents’ health plans;

• 8,600 seniors in the 7th District and 86,500 in the Boston area who hit the Medicare Part D ‘donut hole’ would pay more for their drugs and 103,000 seniors in the 7th District and 1.1 million in the Boston area would be denied new preventative care benefits;

• 7,400 early retirees in the 7th District and 86,700 in the Boston area would see an increase in coverage costs;

• 16,000 small businesses and 113,000 families in the 7th District would lose health care tax credits; and

• 445,000 individuals in the 7th District and 5 million in the Boston area who have health insurance through their employer or in the private insurance market would have lifetime limits on coverage.

“The new health care law is already a win-win for our country and our community, helping to reduce the deficit while helping families save money on health care costs,” concluded Markey. “The health care reform law is not only expanding access to coverage and ending insurance company abuses, but it is also gives Bay State families more freedom and control over their health care choices.”

For more information about repeal’s impact on the 7th District and the greater Boston area, click here and here .

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