Washington, D.C. –U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan (WI-02), a member of the Appropriations Committee’s Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Subcommittee, released the following statement after the Center for American Progress found that 394,100 Wisconsinites would lose coverage under the Senate’s tax cut/health care bill. Additionally, the analysis concludedthat exchange enrollees would see health care cost and premium increases of $2,334 on average and $5,574 for those people between the ages of 60-64 in our state.

“This bill is bad for Wisconsin. People are going to pay higher costs for less coverage, insurers will be allowed to charge seniors up to 5 times more for coverage, and 394,100 Wisconsinites are going to lose coverage all together. This bill is going to cause real pain for millions of people because Republicans want to give massive tax cuts to the wealthiest, insurance companies and big corporations, rather than help their constituents who need access to health care.

“Senator Ron Johnson said the Senate should not rush this bill through and had reservations about the process. I agree. Other Republicans should take note of what Senator Susan Collins said and work with Democrats to help make our health care system better. The answer is not pulling the rug out from under 22 million Americans, so the rich can get richer.”