“Today is a shameful day in American history. Republicans in Congress have voted to strip health care coverage from over 700,000 Washingtonians, and to remove the guarantee that all Americans cannot be denied coverage or charged more because they have a pre-existing condition. Their actions today threaten the health and financial security of millions of American families and undermine our health insurance markets, resulting in likely premium spikes. We have made great progress in Washington state's health care system through bipartisan work and support, yet Congress is now threatening to throw it all away in favor of poorly-conceived partisan legislation.

“I am proud that eight members of Washington's House delegation - two Republicans and all six Democrats - voted against this bill for the harm it would cause our state. I urge the United States Senate to reject the legislation passed today in the House, and I urge Washingtonians to continue making their voices heard as Congress considers taking our country in the wrong direction.”

Earlier this week, Gov. Jay Inslee wrote to all members of the Washington Congressional Delegation urging them to oppose the American Health Care Act, or "Trumpcare" - Republican legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The ACA has helped Washington reduce its uninsured rate from 14 percent to under 6 percent. The rate of annual premium increases has fallen from 18 percent to 6 percent, and the ACA leveled the per-capita costs of serving Medicaid clients. The ACA has supported 51,000 new jobs in Washington and cut hospitals’ uncompensated care costs nearly in half.