Trump Endorses Senate Bill with Devastating Impacts on Americans

Last night Trump tweeted his endorsement of the Senate Republicans’ health repeal bill, and then on Fox News this morning he began his celebration, saying, “I've done in five months what other people haven't done in years.”

Here’s is a look at some of the many devastating impacts of this bill that Trump now owns:

 

Women

The GOP Senate bill:

  • Defunds Planned Parenthood for one year, making it more difficult for millions of women to access critical health services.
  • Gives states the ability to waive protections that guarantee coverage for maternity care and birth control.
  • Bars the use of premium tax credits on health insurance plans that cover abortion, meaning women would have to fully pay out of pocket for supplemental coverage.
  • Slashes Medicaid, which covers half of all U.S. births, funds two-thirds of all spending on family planning and provides access to women’s health and reproductive services, including cancer screenings.
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People Struggling with Substance Abuse

The GOP Senate bill:

  • Slashes Medicaid, which is responsible for treating 34% of those struggling with opioid addiction. The end of the Medicaid expansion would also have an outsize impact on states that have been hit hard by the opioid epidemic.
  • Dedicates an inadequate amount of funding for opioid abuse treatment for just one year, in a pitiful attempt to make up for the impact of the Medicaid cuts.
  • Allows states to waive essential health benefits, which cover substance abuse and mental health treatment, leaving patients to pay more for supplemental coverage that provides the services they need.

 

Older, Sicker Americans

The GOP Senate bill:

  • Permits insurers to charge older Americans five times more than younger Americans for the same plan, effectively imposing an “age tax.”
  • Slashes funding for Medicaid, which currently provides coverage for nearly two-thirds of nursing home residents.
  • Reduces federal assistance for premiums, which would cause some people to pay the full cost out-of-pocket and have a disproportionate negative impact on older Americans from rural areas.
  • Allows states to waive essential health benefits, effectively allowing insurers to offer watered down plans. This means that there could no longer be a guarantee that plans offer many of the basic services that people who are sick utilize often, like coverage for prescription drugs.

 

Middle Class Americans

The GOP Senate bill:

  • Ends federal subsidies that help insurers keep premium costs lower, which by itself could cause double-digit hikes in premiums. The impact would be especially bad for middle class consumers who make too much to qualify for any sort of federal assistance to help cover their costs.

 

Lower-Income Americans, Especially Those from Trump Country

The GOP Senate bill:

  • Ends the ACA’s Medicaid expansion, which provided coverage for more than 11 million low-income Americans. As a result, those who can no longer obtain this coverage would have to pay more for less coverage in the individual marketplace. Rural areas, which have a higher proportion of uninsured Americans than cities and have hospitals that rely heavily on Medicaid funding, would be particularly hard hit by the GOP’s attack on the program.

 

Children and People with Disabilities

The GOP Senate bill:

  • Significantly restructures and makes deep cuts to Medicaid, threatening the program that currently:
  • Covers almost 40% of children in America and provides exceptional coverage for those with special needs.
  • Provides approximately half of the funds that children’s hospitals collect on average.
  • Serves people with disabilities who rely on the program to help cover their home- and community-based services that allow them to live independently.
  • It also would allow for waivers of essential health benefits, which include pediatric dental and vision care, as well as screenings for autism and vaccinations for diseases like Measles, Whooping Cough or Chickenpox.