Asked what he wanted to get on the record by writing a book about his role in passing the Affordable Care Act, former Michigan Congressman Bart Stupak says “the truth.”
Stupak’s book is called For All Americans: The Dramatic Story Behind the Stupak Amendment and the Historic Passage of Obamacare. Stupak, who served for 18 years in the U.S. House, will be the keynote speaker for an event at Western Michigan University’s Homer Stryker MD School of Medicine. The event Wednesday begins at 7:00 and includes a panel discussion on the future of health care.
The Stupak amendment was the same as the Hyde amendment, which prohibits the use of federal funds to pay for, promote or encourage abortion. Stupak, one of the few Right to Life Democrats in the House, says he didn’t want the issue of abortion to derail health care. Stupak says there were always misconceptions that the amendment would ban abortions, or stop insurance companies from offering that coverage. But it only deals with federal funding.
In November of 2008 Barack Obama was elected President, and Stupak says he told his wife that
“I ran my last race… we’re going to pass health care, and I’m out of there.”
Stupak says the uncivil tone by members of Congress convinced him leaving Congress was the right decision. Stupak received death threats after his vote on health care. But the former Congressman says those didn’t faze him because he was already planning not to run for re-election.
Stupak says he expects lawmakers to approve a deal to stabilize insurance markets. He says the Affordable Care Act does many good things, but needs fixes. However, he says eventually the United States will likely move toward a single payer health care system. Stupak would prefer a public option allowing people to buy Medicare-like insurance plans. But Stupak says
“The Trump administration and Republicans have done a lot to give the Medicare for all movement a lot of momentum, and that’s nothing more than a single payer system.”
