The Senate version of the healthcare bill, known as the American Health Care Act, is incredibly cruel. However, it is especially cruel to women. The following are just a few examples why:
1. It Slashes Medicaid
Medicaid covers over 25 million women in the United States. As of June 2017, 31 states and Washington, D.C. have expanded Medicaid as well. Pregnant women and disabled women are two of the major categories of people covered by Medicaid.
2. It Will Price Millions Of Women Out Of Maternity Care.
Obamacare, aka the Affordable Care Act, made maternity coverage an essential benefit meaning insurance companies are required to cover these benefits. The Republican bill takes away these essential benefits, so women may not be able to afford maternity coverage.
3. It Defunds Planned Parenthood.
The Washington Post reports:
“After years of threatening Planned Parenthood, the new bill could finally succeed in ‘defunding’ the health care provider for a full year. While the words ‘Planned Parenthood’ aren’t actually written anywhere in the bill, it blocks Medicaid reimbursement to any health care provider that offers abortions (except in specific cases, like rape and incest). Which means that Medicaid patients would be effectively blocked from going to Planned Parenthood for preventive services, like Pap smears or contraceptive counseling. After the House version of the bill was released, the CBO predicted that ‘defunding’ Planned Parenthood for one year would particularly affect low-income women and women in rural areas, leaving 15 percent of those women without services that prevent pregnancy.”
4. It Penalizes Moms Who Don’t Meet Certain Work Requirements After Giving Birth.
A section of the bill makes it possible for states to force women to go back to work just two months after giving birth.
The Center For Reproductive Rights said:
“[The bill] imposes optional work requirements on Medicaid recipients, allowing states to force new mothers on Medicaid to find work as soon as 60 days after giving birth.”
5. It Punishes Women Who Buy Plans That Cover Abortion.
The Senate version of the bill prevents people from using tax credits to buy plans that cover abortion. The Center for Reproductive Rights also said:
“Coupled with current restrictions … this measure would create a system where virtually all women – whether they are uninsured, insured through Medicaid or another federal program, insured through the individual market, or even insured by an employer – in the United States don’t have coverage for abortion services.”
6. It Cuts Coverage For Mentally Ill Women.
One of the essential health benefits covered under the ACA is mental health. There are some mental illnesses that affect women more than men. Women suffer from depressive disorders and bipolar disorder at a higher rate than men.
Here is one badass woman, Senator Elizabeth Warren, ripping into this bill (after the jump):
https://youtu.be/uN4CyqhgT-s
Featured image via Twitter.
