Congressman Ted Deutch (FL-22) issued this statement after voting against the House Republicans’ partisan attempt to weaken the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and repeal the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) while increasing the deficit by $17.5 billion:

“After failing time and time again to repeal the Affordable Care Act, last month Republicans chose to let the Children’s Health Insurance Program expire. Doing so went against a long history of strong bipartisan support.

“Instead of working with Democrats and reaching a compromise on CHIP renewal, Republicans pushed a deeply partisan bill that puts nine million children and their families at risk. This is yet another cruel link in a long chain of legislative proposals that would jeopardize the health and financial security of millions of vulnerable Americans.

"In this case, as many as 688,000 Americans could be kicked off of the CHIP program because of the Republican leadership’s decision to continue their political vendetta against the previous administration and the Affordable Care Act. This Republican proposal seeks to pay for extending the CHIP program by weakening it, and will punish the low-income families that need CHIP the most.

"At the same time that Republicans are demanding harsh cuts to pay for low-income children’s health care, they passed a bill to repeal the Independent Payment Advisory Board without paying for it. Their repeal bill increases the deficit by $17.5 billion. Instead of working with Democrats on bipartisan proposals for CHIP renewal and IPAB reform, Republicans are demanding harsh policy changes for CHIP while shamelessly adding to the deficit for IPAB repeal.

"It’s time for Congress to come together and pass a bipartisan reauthorization that doesn’t simultaneously put the health of millions of American kids at risk."

The Republican plan will cut $10.5 billion from the Affordable Care Act’s Public Health and Prevention Fund. These funds make up 12 percent of the CDC budget for programs like lead poisoning prevention; vaccine programs; opioid addiction prevention and response; chronic disease prevention including diabetes, heart disease, and stroke; and youth suicide programs. Florida received over $20 million in fiscal year 2016 from this fund, and would lose $54.7 million over 5 years in public health investments to address these crucial health priorities.