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Advocacy groups: American Health Care Act would ‘profoundly reduce coverage for millions’
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Ten patient advocacy groups that serve more than 100 million Americans with chronic or other major health conditions issued a joint statement today reiterating their opposition to the American Health Care Act.
The legislation — which would repeal the Affordable Care Act — could be put up for a vote in the House of Representatives as early as this week.
In March, the advocacy organizations — including the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Diabetes Association and American Heart Association — urged Congress to ensure that any changes to the Affordable Care Act “provide affordable, accessible and adequate coverage and do not result in a loss of coverage for any Americans,” the statement read.
The groups contend the proposed legislation would do the opposite. The Congressional Budget Office indicated the number of uninsured Americans could increase by 24 million by 2026.
“As introduced, the bill would profoundly reduce coverage for millions of Americans —including many low-income and disabled individuals who rely on Medicaid — and increase out-of-pocket costs for the sickest and oldest among us,” the statement read. “We are alarmed by recent harmful changes to the [American Health Care Act], including provisions that will weaken key consumer protections. These changes include allowing states to waive the requirement for essential health benefits, which could deny patients the care and treatment they need to treat their conditions.”
The groups expressed opposition to a provision that would allow states to waive protections against health status rating. This could allow insurers to charge higher prices to individuals with pre-existing conditions, they contend.
“States that waive health status rating protections would be required to set up a high-risk sharing program, which may include a high-risk pool,” the statement read. “Offering these risk-sharing mechanisms as an alternative to affordable health insurance is not a viable option, particularly high-risk pools. Previous state high risk pools resulted in higher premiums, long waiting lists and inadequate coverage.
“Weakening protections in favor of high-risk pools would also undermine the ban on discrimination based on health status,” the statement continued. “The individuals and families we represent cannot go back to a time when people with pre-existing conditions could be denied coverage or forced to choose between purchasing basic necessities and affording their health care coverage. Given these factors, we oppose the latest draft of the [American Health Care Act]. We urge Members of Congress to reject this legislation.”
President Donald J. Trump insisted the Republican plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act would guarantee coverage for individuals with pre-existing medical conditions. He also said via Twitter this past weekend that the legislation would lead to lower premiums and deductibles.
The other advocacy groups to sign the joint statement were the American Lung Association, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, JDRF, March of Dimes, National Organization for Rare Disorders, National MS Society and WomenHeart: The National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease.