Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, joined with Senators Susan Collis of Maine and John McCain of Arizona this past week to stop the latest Republican effort to dismantle the Affordable Care Act.
While voting no, Murkowski said she committed to reforming the health care legislation “with a structure that works better for all Americans.
“But to do that, the Senate must fully devote itself to an effort to improve the health care system in this country, reduce costs, increase access, and deliver the quality of care that our families want and deserve,” she said, in a statement issued July 28.
“I hear from fishermen who can’t afford the coverage that they have, small business owners who can’t afford insurance at all, and those who have gained coverage for the first time in their life. These Alaskans have shared their anxiety that their personal situation may be made worse under the legislation considered this week.
“As a senate, as leaders, we have an obligation to do better for those whom we serve,” she said.
In an interview with Sitka radio station KCAW on July 28, the senator said that
where she disagrees with President Trump is the process and whether or not the Senate was ready to go to the floor.
Murkowski said McCann reminded her to “do what you know is right, that sometime that’s hard to do the things that are right because politics gets in the way.
“It reminded me of the old Ted Stevens… (who told her) ‘the hell with politics. Do what’s right for Alaska’,” she said.
Alaska Speaker of the House Bryce Edgmon, D-Dillingham, thanked Murkowski “for bucking the political winds and putting Alaska first.
Alaska already struggles with the highest health care costs in the nation, and the situation would have only gotten worse with the passage of the proposed health care legislation,” Edgmon said. “Our economy is in a recession and we are struggling through a fiscal crisis. The last thing we need right now is partisan federal legislation that would shift hundreds of million s of dollars in costs onto the state.”
While drawing some criticism from some Alaska Republicans, Murkowski drew kudos from a number of Alaskans worried about losing coverage they have under ACA, in emails and via a demonstration in Anchorage to thank her for her vote. Anchorage NAACP president Kevin McGee said her “multiple votes in defense of Alaskans’ health care make it clear that she places our health and welfare ahead of Washington Republicans’ sick, pro-death agenda.
“In contrast to Murkowski’s principle and independence, Dan Sullivan flagrantly broke his promise to defend our care, and cowardly sided with party leaders instead of Alaskans,” McGee said.
“Health care literally is life or death, and Alaskans have Lisa Murkowski to thank fo defending the health care programs like Medicaid and private health coverage that keep many of us alive every day,” he said.
