To the editor:

In a recent letter to the editor, Sheldon Weisgrau attacked Congresswoman Lynn Jenkins and her staff for being misleading about the American Health Care Act and Congressional Budget Office.

As the communications director for Congresswoman Jenkins, I would like to set the record straight.

First, Weisgrau wrongly stated that it is not common for committees to vote on bills without a CBO score.

In fact, it is common. For instance, some recent health care bills that have been marked up without a CBO score include the Helping Hospitals Improve Patient Care Act (HIP-C), the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) and the life-saving 21st Century Cures Act (when it was marked up the first time through the Energy and Commerce Committee).

Secondly, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was formed by three committees in Congress. Being involved in health policy for more than 30 years, Weisgrau understands that the ACA most resembles H.R. 3200, America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009.

Despite what Weisgrau says in his letter, the only House committee votes on the ACA occurred on 10/14/2009 when H.R. 3200 was marked up, without a CBO score — please scroll to page 369: gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CRPT-111hrpt299/pdf/CRPT-111hrpt299-pt1.pdf.

I would urge Weisgrau to do more research before misleading the public with inaccurate claims in a letter to the editor. If anyone would like more information regarding this, or the American Health Care Act, please feel free to call our office.