Opinion writer Hadley Heath Manning’s argument in the May 26 Miami Herald, “Obamacare replacement would give women better options, lower costs,” doesn’t hold water.
The American Health Care Act (AHCA) replacement bill passed by the House is the worst piece of legislation for women’s health in decades.
The ill-advised House plan specifically prohibits Medicaid patients from coming to Planned Parenthood for basic healthcare services, such as birth control, cancer screenings, STD testing and treatment, and well-woman exams.
This puts the health of Planned Parenthood’s 2.5 million patients at risk, including many women here in Florida who will have nowhere else to turn for care if Planned Parenthood health centers are forced to close their doors.
The AHCA also makes it easier for insurers to discriminate against women. It removes safeguards so that insurers could claim that having previously given birth, or had a C-section, or being a survivor of domestic violence, would somehow constitute a “pre-existing condition.”
The AHCA even creates a nationwide ban on abortion coverage, despite insurance typically covering abortion — a safe and legal medical procedure that approximately one in three women will have in her lifetime — unless it is prevented by state law.
On top of all that, booting 23 million Americans off their health insurance, as estimated by the Congressional Budget Office, would be devastating to men and women and is nothing short of reckless.
For more, visit The Miami Herald.