Schakowsky Statement on Affordable Care Act Rates

CHICAGO - Today, Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky released the following statement after new rates for the Affordable Care Act were announced this morning:

“Announcements of premium increases for 2017 must be met with a commitment to make health care more affordable. Obamacare constructed a sound foundation – providing patients’ rights, ending discrimination against women and people with pre-existing conditions, eliminating annual and lifetime limits on benefits, and covering 20 million previously uninsured Americans.

I said when the law first passed that we must build on that foundation. I have introduced legislation to provide a public option, which the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office said would lower premiums. I have fought to lower prescription drug prices that are driving up premiums and out-of-pocket costs. I have pushed for legislation to help states like Illinois that have no authority to deny unjustifiable premiums or negotiate for reasonable ones. I have consistently fought against narrow networks that restrict access to quality hospitals and providers.

It is time for my Republican colleagues to commit to working with us to make those improvements instead of persistently pushing for repeal and a return to the days when private insurance companies held all the cards.”