Sen. Murkowski, I saw your pained reaction to the reporter who shared with you Sen. Rand Paul’s comment that your vote “bailed out the Republicans” with this horrible bill just passed by the Senate. Your response was that you did what you could to protect your Alaskan constituents, but you were not happy with the bill at all.
Sen. Murkowski, you knew how tight this vote was — you would have been able to protect your constituents while voting “no” and been able to protect the “greater” population as well. What you want to see as an act of heroism for your home state was really a mercenary act — you simply prostituted your state and “screwed” the rest of the country with your vote.
The sweeping changes made to our already broken health care system will leave millions (11.8 million by conservative estimates from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office) uninsured over the next 10 years — 11.8 million of our most vulnerable citizens — elderly, disabled, and children. But it’s good to know you feel bad about the bill.
But perhaps you agree with Vice President J.D. Vance, that “the minutiae of the Medicaid policy is immaterial compared to the ICE money and immigration enforcement provisions.”
Perhaps you agree with Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst who flippantly responded to one of her own constituents who lamented that this bill would cost lives, “well, we all are going to die … ” But at least you feel bad about the bill.
This bill, combined with separate policy changes proposed by this administration, could actually result in an estimated 17 million people losing health insurance. This bill will represent the biggest roll back of health insurance coverage ever. One-fifth of the total U.S. population, according to our own government data, are currently enrolled in Medicaid. Medicaid is the primary payer for the majority of nursing home residents, (But again — “we are all going to die … “)
Rural hospitals that are often the backbone of many communities and already struggling financially, will close. Rural communities already have higher rates of chronic illnesses and mortality because they have limited access to care. Not only will those communities (often the poorest — and I suspect there are several in your state of Alaska) suffer as residents will no longer have easy access to medical help — but millions of health care workers will be added to the unemployment numbers — but at least you feel bad about the bill.
In addition to all this, you — YOU — allowed Republicans to hand a huge win to drugmakers (because we all know that Big Pharma is struggling, right?) by adding a provision in this horrible bill that you are not happy about, that would exempt more medicines from the Inflation Reduction Act’s Medicare drug price negotiations. Big Pharma will stop at nothing to maintain industry profits and when you sold your vote, you don’t get to argue that you are not the reason why Americans pay the HIGHEST drug prices in the world.
You, Sen. Murkowski — you and your fellow Republicans, allow for that to be the case. But yeah, you feel bad about the bill.
Shame on you. Try as you might — you cannot say you voted with Alaskans in mind. Voting for the greater good of this country would have helped all Alaskans as well as all Americans. You should feel bad about this bill — but your words ring hollow.
Kathleen Ortiz is a resident of California.
