WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill issued the following reaction to a Missouri State Legislature resolution calling for the Missouri Congressional delegation to “endeavor with ‘manly firmness’ and resolve to totally and completely repeal” and not replace the 2010 Affordable Care Act—a law that is providing health insurance to more than 200,000 Missourians, and has barred insurance companies from denying coverage because of a preexisting condition, dropping coverage for a person after becoming sick, or discriminating based on whether a patient is male or female:

“I don’t think you prove your manhood by kicking folks off their health coverage and once again letting insurance companies discriminate against women and sick people.”

McCaskill also reiterated her commitment to protecting Medicare from elected officials who believe, as the Missouri State Representative who authored this resolution has stated, that the federal government has “no business in health care, anyway…”

It is estimated that a full repeal of the Affordable Care Act would strip more than 200,000 Missourians of health insurance coverage, and—according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office—would raise the national deficit by billions of dollars.