“Americans will suffer”: PHI Statement on Passage of Tax Bill

STATEMENT FROM NORA CONNORS, DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC POLICY AND PARTNERSHIPS

“Today, Congress sent a tax plan to the President for his signature. While the White House is celebrating, Americans are suffering: this tax bill is bad for the health and welfare of the American people.

“This bill repeals the individual mandate, resulting in 13 million more uninsured Americans over the next decade and a significant rise in premiums in the individual market, resulting in more illness, disease, suffering and higher health care costs. It cuts the take-home pay of families in the long run, eliminates credits for education and  adoption and reduces the future supply of affordable housing, impacting critical factors that support health. Education, healthy housing, fresh foods and preventative care are all tied to affordability and access.

“The tax bill also increases the deficit by $1.5 trillion. A federal budget so deeply in the red poses serious consequences for funding levels for public health agencies and entitlement programs. If future attempts to manage the deficit result in cuts to social safety net programs that provide adequate housing, nutrition, and health care—as has happened historically—the effects would be calamitous for some of our nation’s most vulnerable individuals and families.”