The United States Senate is currently working on its proposal to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which ensured coverage of essential health benefits, protected patients with preexisting conditions, and expanded Medicaid eligibility. This resulted in increased access to health care for everyone, but it especially benefited vulnerable populations that were less likely to have health insurance, including LGBT people, people with HIV, and Black and Latino people. Passage of the American Health Care Act (AHCA) would jeopardize the gains made under the ACA by:
- Cutting healthcare for 23 million Americans, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).
- Eliminating ACA provisions that banned preexisting condition discrimination in health insurance and required coverage for essential health benefits, such as HIV/STD screening, mental health services, and prenatal care.
- Ending the Medicaid expansion–which has been critical for expanding access to care for poor LGBT people and people living with HIV–and cutting federal funding for Medicaid by $800 billion.
- Jeopardizing the ability of Planned Parenthood to provide healthcare and deliver essential preventive cancer screenings and sexual health services.
The CBO analysis found that passage of the AHCA would result in skyrocketing insurance costs for the sick, the poor, and older adults. People with preexisting conditions, including people living with HIV, could see health insurance quickly become unaffordable in states that choose to waive out of the ACA provisions.
Call your two U.S. Senators today and tell them to vote against AHCA! Even if you know that they oppose the AHCA, please call them and thank them.
To find out who your Senators are, please visit:https://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
To call your Senators, please dial 202.224.3121. A switchboard operator will direct your call to your Senators upon request.