Two Republicans recently criticized the Republican tax bill that passed in January. Ousted Health & Human Services Secretary Tom Price said the Republican efforts to undo the individual mandate would increase costs for the people remaining insured – but later claimed his comments were taken out of context. Senator Marco Rubio voted for the tax package but said there’s no evidence that the tax plan’s lowered corporate tax rate has significantly helped American workers. He later toned down his messaging saying the tax law “on the whole” helps most Americans even if the corporate tax cuts do not.

One year ago, the House of Representatives passed their Affordable Care Act-repeal legislation, the American Health Care Act. The bill would have put health coverage out of reach for many by slashing Medicaid, raising health care costs for working families and eliminating protections for people with pre-existing conditions. Over 340,000 Washington residents would have lost coverage, including over 240,000 Medicaid recipients. Advocates responded quickly and constituents flooded Congress with calls and messages – defeating the repeal effort in the Senate. But we can’t get too comfortable with our success, because there is now talk of a behind-the-scenes repeal effort.

Most recently, the Trump Administration is asking Congress to cut $7 billion of unspent or expired funds from the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) as part of a rescission package. These cuts would not reduce the deficit (unlike the tax bill, which increased the deficit by $1.3 trillion). We hope that Congress will not allow any cuts to CHIP, but the request raises concern for families, states and advocates after CHIP was left out in the cold for many months between authorizations.