The GOP is Trying Again to Repeal the ACA

Greetings, fellow Resistbotters! One issue being considered by Congress this week is amendments to H.R. 1628 — The American Healthcare Act.

Republican Healthcare Redux!

Republicans in Congress are back this week with another attempt to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act! According to Reuters, this puts the number of times they’ve voted to rid the nation of its healthcare well above the 60+ mark. This time they’ve made changes so that the bill appeals to the House Freedom Caucus — the most conservative members of Congress. As you can imagine, the changes make the bill even more heavy-handed — Democrats and moderate Republicans are not supportive.

What’s changed?

• States get to ask to be exempted from federal mandates that require coverage for “essential health benefits.” For those of you playing along at home, this means that the state can say no to coverage for emergency services, maternity care, and mental health and substance abuse services.
• States can also ask to allow insurance companies to charge higher premiums for people with pre-existing conditions.
• For bonus points, Congress has exempted its own coverage from the bill, insuring that they can receive all the emergency, maternity, mental health, and substance abuse coverage they could ever want and won’t be charged extra for any pesky pre-existing conditions.

What does this mean for you?

It’s very simple. You can expect to pay higher premiums if you want coverage for things like breaking a leg, having a kid, suffering a bout of depression, and help quitting any drugs you might be taking. If you have a pre-existing condition, such as diabetes or a disability or any other chronic health condition, you’d definitely pay even more to receive the basic health care coverage you need to stay healthy. If you can’t afford these higher premiums, you’ll be among the additional 24 million people who lose coverage by 2026. In fact, more people will continue to have coverage if Congress does nothing to the existing law.

Who supports this?

This bill has the support of the most conservative wing of the Republican Party — The House Freedom Caucus, Heritage Action, Club for Growth, and Freedom Partners.

Tell us what you think!

Thanks for reading! Text RESIST to 50409 to tell your representatives what you think about this. Here’s what else is happening this week:

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