I drafted this piece on behalf of our organization for publication in newspapers around the country. Check out a version in today's Sacramento Bee. The shortest answer to their prompt is simply: Hell no.
Con: Millions lose health insurance to pay for tax
The Affordable Care Act (ACA, or “Obamacare”) extended health insurance to 20 million people while closing loopholes in existing insurance for everyone. The GOP proposal would take health insurance away from 24 million people—and likely millions more—and re-open those loopholes.
While it is marketed as an ACA repeal, the GOP proposal actually goes far beyond the ACA, attacking long-standing programs like Medicaid and long-standing health providers like Planned Parenthood. The bill does all of this in order to give the 400 wealthiest households in America an average tax cut of $7 million each.
Doctors groups like the American Medical Association, seniors groups like the AARP, patient groups like the American Cancer Society, hospital groups like the American Hospital Association, and consumer advocates like us are united in opposition to the proposal, which would gut protections for pre-existing conditions, reinstate annual and lifetime caps on coverage, eviscerate Medicaid, gouge seniors, and block women from going to the provider of their choice.
In fact, the only enthusiasm for the GOP proposal has come from groups dedicated to lobbying Congress on behalf of tax cuts for the rich.
Under the GOP plan, states could allow insurers to once again discriminate against people because of their health history. One recent study from the Kaiser Family Foundation found that 27% of adults have a pre-existing condition that would price them out of coverage if their insurance lapsed for any reason. The bill would shunt the sickest patients into “high-risk pools.” In the past, high-risk pools only helped about 2% of those in need—a far cry from the 27% who could be faced with unaffordable premiums under the GOP bill.
As bad as this is for everyone, the GOP’s plan is even worse for women. Pregnant women, women with previous c-sections, survivors of rape and domestic violence, and more, would all face skyrocketing premiums.
At the same time, states could also allow insurance companies to drop coverage for essential health benefits like prescription drugs and devices, including contraception, and maternity and newborn care. These practices were common before the ACA. For example, a 2009 study by the National Women’s Law Center found that only 13% of plans sold on the individual market covered maternity care, and women were typically charged more than men for the same plan—sometimes as much as 84% more.
Older adults who buy their own insurance will be charged nearly twice as much under the GOP plan. That’s because the bill allows insurers to charge people over 60 five times as much as younger adults. Women in their 50s and 60s who lose coverage through divorce or widowhood would find it particularly hard to get affordable coverage.
At the same time, the GOP plan slashes financial aid to help folks afford insurance, replacing the ACA’s subsidies with much skimpier support that doesn’t take the cost of insurance into consideration, and provides the same amount of help to a woman earning minimum wage as one who earns six time as much.
Someone living in a rural area—where older-than-average populations and fewer providers often make for higher insurance premiums—wouldn’t get any more help paying for premiums than an identical person living where premiums cost less. The bill also paralyzes Medicaid, capping and ratcheting down federal support so that it provides less and less help each year. Since its creation, Medicaid has been a flexible program capable of responding to both economic recessions and public health crises. The GOP bill would tie states’ hands, forcing states to cut benefits or drop children, pregnant women, disabled people and seniors from coverage.
The GOP plan isn’t a good replacement for the ACA. It’s a threat to the health of millions of people. The Senate should scrap it, and work on a plan that actually improves the ACA.
Con: Millions lose health insurance to pay for tax
The Affordable Care Act (ACA, or “Obamacare”) extended health insurance to 20 million people while closing loopholes in existing insurance for everyone. The GOP proposal would take health insurance away from 24 million people—and likely millions more—and re-open those loopholes.
While it is marketed as an ACA repeal, the GOP proposal actually goes far beyond the ACA, attacking long-standing programs like Medicaid and long-standing health providers like Planned Parenthood. The bill does all of this in order to give the 400 wealthiest households in America an average tax cut of $7 million each.
Doctors groups like the American Medical Association, seniors groups like the AARP, patient groups like the American Cancer Society, hospital groups like the American Hospital Association, and consumer advocates like us are united in opposition to the proposal, which would gut protections for pre-existing conditions, reinstate annual and lifetime caps on coverage, eviscerate Medicaid, gouge seniors, and block women from going to the provider of their choice.
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In fact, the only enthusiasm for the GOP proposal has come from groups dedicated to lobbying Congress on behalf of tax cuts for the rich.
Under the GOP plan, states could allow insurers to once again discriminate against people because of their health history. One recent study from the Kaiser Family Foundation found that 27% of adults have a pre-existing condition that would price them out of coverage if their insurance lapsed for any reason. The bill would shunt the sickest patients into “high-risk pools.” In the past, high-risk pools only helped about 2% of those in need—a far cry from the 27% who could be faced with unaffordable premiums under the GOP bill.
As bad as this is for everyone, the GOP’s plan is even worse for women. Pregnant women, women with previous c-sections, survivors of rape and domestic violence, and more, would all face skyrocketing premiums.
At the same time, states could also allow insurance companies to drop coverage for essential health benefits like prescription drugs and devices, including contraception, and maternity and newborn care. These practices were common before the ACA. For example, a 2009 study by the National Women’s Law Center found that only 13% of plans sold on the individual market covered maternity care, and women were typically charged more than men for the same plan—sometimes as much as 84% more.
Older adults who buy their own insurance will be charged nearly twice as much under the GOP plan. That’s because the bill allows insurers to charge people over 60 five times as much as younger adults. Women in their 50s and 60s who lose coverage through divorce or widowhood would find it particularly hard to get affordable coverage.
At the same time, the GOP plan slashes financial aid to help folks afford insurance, replacing the ACA’s subsidies with much skimpier support that doesn’t take the cost of insurance into consideration, and provides the same amount of help to a woman earning minimum wage as one who earns six time as much.
Someone living in a rural area—where older-than-average populations and fewer providers often make for higher insurance premiums—wouldn’t get any more help paying for premiums than an identical person living where premiums cost less. The bill also paralyzes Medicaid, capping and ratcheting down federal support so that it provides less and less help each year. Since its creation, Medicaid has been a flexible program capable of responding to both economic recessions and public health crises. The GOP bill would tie states’ hands, forcing states to cut benefits or drop children, pregnant women, disabled people and seniors from coverage.
The GOP plan isn’t a good replacement for the ACA. It’s a threat to the health of millions of people. The Senate should scrap it, and work on a plan that actually improves the ACA.
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