Utah’s Congressional delegation all voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act in the U.S. House Wednesday including Democrat Jim Matheson.
Republicans Jason Chaffetz and Rob Bishop voted along party lines, but Matheson was one of only five Democrats who voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Matheson says he has consistently opposed the bill.
“I voted against the healthcare bill ever since it started in energy and commerce committee three years ago in Congress," he said. "I think that the bill fails to address the critical issue of creating a sustainable healthcare system for America that everyone can afford. That should be our goal, and that’s what we should be pursuing.”
Matheson says the recent Supreme Court ruling allowing states to opt out of Medicaid expansion raises more questions for him.
“There are questions about how coverage is going to take place for that group of folks that are in that income level. These are more of the working poor. They have income, they don’t qualify for Medicaid today. That was a significant underpinning of how that coverage was going to take place, and now that’s an open question,” Matheson said.
Matheson says he’s hoping for a more constructive and bipartisan conversation on healthcare reform.
