Statement of Eleanor Smeal, President, Feminist Majority
House Republicans’ newly released Affordable Care Act (ACA) repeal bill to “Make America Sick Again” would force tens of millions of people off of health insurance, robbing women, children, and older adults of basic healthcare.
This dangerous bill charts a path to end Medicaid expansion—which has provided coverage to an additional 11 million people in 31 states and the District of Columbia—and eventually dismantle the Medicaid program completely through per capita caps on coverage, hurting millions more seniors, people with disabilities, parents, and low-income people who depend on the program for care.
This shockingly cruel bill would also push low- and middle-income people and their children out of the private health insurance market by increasing direct costs to the consumer, penalize individuals who cannot afford continuous coverage, expand harmful restrictions on insurance coverage of abortion, and cut off access to critically needed health services by defunding Planned Parenthood. The majority of Planned Parenthood health centers are located in medically underserved areas, meaning that for many women, losing Planned Parenthood would mean losing ready access to quality reproductive health care services, including cancer screenings, birth control, and STD testing and treatment.
Republicans’ plan to “Make America Sick Again” also shamelessly targets older adults by allowing insurers to charge seniors five times as much as younger individuals.
Republicans cannot hide the fact that their repeal bill shifts enormous costs onto every day Americans, enriches insurance companies, and cheats millions of people out of quality, affordable health care. Republican leaders must stop putting profits over people’s lives.
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