Senate Republicans today unveiled their health care plan that ends Medicaid as we know it and is devastating for seniors, women, and people receiving treatment for the disease of addiction. The bill would also slam the door on women’s access to health care by defunding Planned Parenthood which provides important treatment for women throughout our commonwealth.
“Paul Mango and Scott Wagner have consistently called for the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, ending Medicaid as we know it, and defunding Planned Parenthood,” said Beth Melena, communications director for the Pennsylvania Democratic Party. “Now as the Senate works to strip health care away from millions of Pennsylvanians, Mango and Wagner are silent and hiding their support for throwing seniors in nursing homes out on the street, stripping treatment away from those suffering from the disease of addiction, and slamming the door on women’s access to health care. Now that the Senate has released its bill, it’s time for Wagner and Mango to publicly admit how they would deal with the disastrous impact that this legislation would have on Pennsylvania families.”
BACKGROUND:
“It would also repeal virtually all the tax increases imposed by the Affordable Care Act to pay for itself, in effect handing a broad tax cut to the affluent, paid for by billions of dollars sliced from Medicaid, a health care program that serves one in five Americans, not only the poor but two-thirds of those in nursing homes.” [The New York Times, 6/22/17]
“Like the House bill, the Senate measure is expected to make big changes to Medicaid, the program that insures about 74 million elderly and lower-income Americans and was expanded in most states under the ACA. In effect, the revisions would reduce federal spending on the program.” [The Washington Post, 6/22/17]
“It would also eliminate Medicaid reimbursements for Planned Parenthood for one year. Federal law already prevents taxpayer funding to pay for abortions except to save the life of the woman or in the case of rape or incest. But some Republicans want to ban all federal funding for Planned Parenthood, which also provides health services such as birth control, because their clinics provide abortion services.” [The Washington Post, 6/22/17]
“Leaders of the 10 insurance companies told Mr. McConnell that proposed caps on federal Medicaid spending would cause ‘an enormous cost shift to the states,’ which could force them to raise taxes, reduce benefits, cut payments to health care providers or eliminate coverage for some beneficiaries.” [The New York Times, 6/22/17]