- The Washington Times - Friday, March 24, 2017

Pro-Obamacare groups are calling on Congress to shoot down the House GOP health care bill as part of a last-minute public relations push to kill the bill.

Ahead of an expected vote on Friday, the Alliance for Healthcare Security, which is comprised of liberal advocacy groups like Families USA, continued airing an ad warning that “Washington politicians have a plan that will decimate health care.”

“People who know health care best say this health care repeal bill is the worst,” the narrator says in the ad. “The American Medical Association calls the bill critically flawed. AARP says it will weaken Medicare.”

The House GOP put off a vote Thursday on the health care proposal after President Trump and Republican leaders failed to nail down the votes needed to pass the measure.

Mr. Trump and GOP leaders have signaled that there is no more room for negotiation, and a vote on the plan is expected on Friday.

The ad says hospitals will be left with less staff and longer wait times and highlights a recent score from the Congressional Budget Office that found 24 million more Americans will lose coverage under the proposal that House Speaker Paul D. Ryan and Mr. Trump are calling on lawmakers to support.

The American Hospital Association, which opposes the GOP’s repeal plan, also is running a commercial that highlights Mr. Trump’s campaign promise that “everybody” would be covered under his health care plan, and how 20 million people have gained coverage under Obamacare.

“Now under some plans in Congress, millions of these Americans could lose that health coverage,” the narrator says in the spot. “The women and men of America’s hospitals urge Congress to protect affordable coverage for as many Americans as possible.”

• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.

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