PROTECT OUR CARE WEEKLY WRAP up [ March 10-16, 2018 ]

PROTECT OUR CARE ** WEEKLY WRAP UP ** [ March 10-16, 2018 ]

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Health Care Voters Propel Lamb to Victory

As a PPP exit poll found, dissatisfaction with Republicans’ war on health care drove voters to deliver Conor Lamb a Democratic victory in a district that Donald Trump won by nearly twenty points in 2016.

This historic win in Pennsylvania should be the clearest message yet to Republicans that their war on health care is not just a political loser, but an albatross around the neck of any candidate who supports their destructive repeal-and-sabotage agenda.

Rick Saccone became the latest candidate to throw his lot in with President Trump’s war on health care and then suffer a once-unthinkable defeat. While Saccone called for a full repeal of the Affordable Care Act and backed the unpopular GOP repeal bills that would have thrown tens of millions of Americans off of their insurance and raised costs for millions more, Lamb defended the Affordable Care Act and called for legislative action to improve the law and expand on its successes - and Pennsylvania voters responded by sending him to Washington.

The exit poll of PA-18 voters found that they broke for Lamb because of his commitment to improving the Affordable Care Act and opposition to the Republican repeal-and-sabotage agenda. In a district that voted Trump by almost 20 points, a majority of voters now support the Affordable Care Act, and last year’s repeal efforts were a drag on the Republican candidate, making 41% of voters less likely to support him.

Tuesday’s results make it crystal clear that health care decided this race, echoing recent elections in Virginia,New Jersey, Alabama, Wisconsin, and across the country, as voters across the nation continue to say: enough is enough - it’s time to stand up to Republicans and stop the war on our care.

BACKGROUND

Lamb: Congress Should Be Working Together To Build On ACA's Progress, Fix What Isn't Working, And Make The Law Better. On his campaign website, Lamb writes, "I believe that every American has a right to go see a doctor when they're sick, and that means every American has a right to health insurance they can afford. The Affordable Care Act has flaws, but it has provided affordable coverage to more than a million Pennsylvanians who were previously uninsured. Our representatives in Congress should be working together to build on that progress, fix what isn't working, and make the law better. Instead, Republicans in Congress spent the past year trying to take health insurance away from people with no plan to replace it. Now, costs are likely to go up for many of us, especially those with preexisting conditions. That is unacceptable, and it's a failure of leadership." [Conor Lamb Campaign Website, Priorities, Affordable Health Care]

Lamb: GOP Leaders Have Not Even Allowed A Vote To Stabilize ACA Markets. On his campaign website, Lamb writes, "Republican leaders have not even allowed a vote on a bipartisan, common-sense effort to strengthen the ACA and stabilize the markets. And it took the threat of a government shutdown for both parties to come together and fund the children's health program (CHIP), something they'd ignored for months while the program was forced to survive on week-to-week bailouts. These legislative failures show what is wrong with the status quo in Washington. I'll work with anyone from either party who wants to help people with pre-existing conditions, improve the quality of care, and reduce premiums, out-of- pocket costs, and prescription drug prices." [Conor Lamb Campaign Website, Priorities, Affordable Health Care]

Saccone Called For Full Repeal Of The ACA And Said AHCA Did Not Go Far Enough. Saccone, in an interview on 790 WAEB, agreed that the AHCA does not go far enough. When the show’s host trashed AHCA as insufficiently right wing, Saccone said the host was “absolutely right.” Later, when asked if he favors full repeal of the ACA, Saccone replied, “absolutely; got to go.” [WAEB, 3/9/17]

Saccone Cynically Dismissed Concern About People Losing Health Coverage As “Typical Democrats Talking Points.” “Conor Lamb, the Democratic candidate in the special election wasn't available to speak on camera on Wednesday. On his campaign website, he claimed Republicans have been ‘trying to take health insurance away from people with no plan to replace it. Now, costs are likely to go up for many of us, especially those with preexisting conditions. That is unacceptable, and it's a failure of leadership.’ Told of Lamb's stand, Saccone cynically said, ‘That's typical Democrats talking points. Look, the price of health care was skyrocketing under Obamacare.’” [WTAE, 1/31/18]

Right-Wing Club For Growth Endorsed Saccone Because Of His Commitment To Repealing The ACA. “Today, the Club for Growth PAC announced its endorsement of Rick Saccone for the U.S. House of Representatives. Saccone is running for the open seat vacated earlier this year by Tim Murphy (PA- 18). ‘Club for Growth PAC is proud to endorse Rick Saccone in his run for Congress,’ stated Club for Growth PAC President David McIntosh. ‘Rick is a constitutional conservative who supports lower taxes, repealing Obamacare, and limiting the size of government.” [Club for Growth Press Release, 12/19/17]

Saccone Applauded Repeal Of The Individual Mandate. “I am pleased that the House and Senate have come together and passed a repeal of the onerous and punitive Obamacare mandate that was forced upon the country by the liberal wing of the Democratic Party led by Nancy Pelosi. The repeal was supported by 63% of Americans who agreed that the individual mandate tax was an excessive encroachment on taxpayers. Alarmingly, the mandate disproportionately hurt low-income households – the very people Obamacare was to care for. According to the IRS, nearly 80 percent of households that pay the penalty make less than $50,000 annually. As a result, low-income families paid up to $2,085 this year not being able to afford health insurance. Obamacare premiums have skyrocketed so high that millions of Americans were forced to pay the penalty because they could not afford coverage.” [Rick Saccone for Congress Press Release, 12/21/17]

REACTION ROUNDUP: Health Care Proves Political Asset for Democrats in PA-18

DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES REACT

Allison Stephens, D-Candidate for NV04: “In #PA18, 53% of dem voters & 63% of independent voters were opposed to #ACA repeal. One thing is clear: healthcare will be a deciding issue in 2018. The GOP must abandon repeal. We need access to quality, affordable healthcare in #NV04. #ProtectOurCare” [Allison Stephens, 3/14/18]

Christina Hartman, D-Candidate for PA10: “My opponent @RepScottPerry is a member of the House @freedomcaucus that pushed to gut protections for those with preexisting conditions. #PA10 voters will remember in November. #PA18 @ProtectOurCare #TrumpCare” [Christina Hartman, 3/14/18]

Pat Ryan, D-Candidate for NY19: “Must continue to remind voters in #NY19 that @RepJohnFaso (and fellow Rs) voted to rip healthcare away from our community. Protecting healthcare for working families key to @ConorLambPA victory in #PA18; cc @1199UpstateNY #ProtectOurCare” [Pat Ryan, 3/14/18]

Eddie Sundquist, D-Candidate for NY23: “ The voters of #PA18 proved that we will not stand idly by when Republicans like @RepTomReed vote to take away healthcare from 68,000 #NY23 constituents. A diagnosis should not be a death sentence or mean financial ruin.” [Eddie Sundquist, 3/14/18]

TOP INFLUENCERS: THIS IS BIG

Andy Slavitt, top Obama Administration health official: “BREAKING: Even with #PA18 officially too close to call, health care voters carried the day. 52% of voters ranked health care as a top issue. By 64-36, those voters favored @ConorLambPA.” [Andy Slavitt, 3/14/18]

Tom Perez: “That’s when we do well. That’s how Doug Jones won. He was talking about kitchen table issues, he was talking about healthcare. Conor Lamb was talking about health care… that’s how we’re winning elections by talking about those shared issues. That’s what Conor was fighting for. He was fighting for access to health care — the number one issue for voters in district 18, as it was across the country was health care. And they understand that Democrats believe health care should be a right for all and not a privilege for many.” [MSNBC, 3/14/18]

Mario Molina, former CEO of Molina Healthcare: “Reassuring to hear @ConorLambPA talk about the importance and support of critical health and safety net programs. "They are America's way of saying, 'We are all in this together.'" [Mario Molina, 3/14/18]

Steven Dennis, Bloomberg reporter: “ACA opposition *used* to be solid gold for GOP Conor Lamb took mend it, don't end it position; PPP (D) poll found ACA at 44/42 approval in #PA18” [Steven Dennis, 3/14/18]

DNC: Voters Reject Trump-Republican Agenda. “Health care was a top issue in last night’s election and Conor Lamb won those voters by a wide margin, making it clear voters reject Republican policies that have already left millions more Americans without health insurance and sent premiums skyrocketing.” [DNC to press list, 3/14/18]

Topher Spiro, Vice President for health policy at Center for American Progress: “BOOM. This is it. Any vulnerable Republican who voted to repeal health care is toast.” [Topher Spiro, 3/14/18]

Jonathan Cohn, Senior National Correspondent at Huffington Post: “Maybe trying to take health insurance from millions of people is a political loser.” [Jonathan Cohn, 3/14/18]

HOW IT PLAYED IN THE HEADLINES

The Week: GOP efforts to kill ObamaCare might have tipped the scales for Conor Lamb in Pennsylvania's special election [3/14/18]

ThinkProgress: Pennsylvania voters say the GOP’s health care antics cost Saccone their vote [3/14/18]

Daily Intelligencer: 5 Lessons From the Pennsylvania Special Election [3/14/18]

MarketWatch: Pennsylvania Democrat Lamb had upper hand with voters on health care, poll finds [3/14/18]

Vox: Conor Lamb decisively won the health care vote in the Pennsylvania special election [3/14/18]

After PA-18 Defeat, GOP Continues to Sabotage Health Care In So-Called Stabilization Bill

Despite the major role health care played in Democratic Congressman-elect Conor Lamb’s upset victory in PA-18 and studies showing that Republican sabotage and repeal could raise premiums up to 94%, there are nonetheless reports of ongoing Republican efforts to sabotage health care in the upcoming Omnibus bill.

Following Tuesday’s groundbreaking election in Pennsylvania, the clearest wake-up call yet that GOP health care sabotage is an albatross around the neck of anyone who supports it, Congressional Republicans continue to sabotage Americans’ health care, pushing a stabilization package that would not even begin to undo the damage they have done, and launching new attacks on women’s health.

Because President Trump and his Republican allies in Congress have been trying to repeal and sabotage our health care for over a year, premiums are up twenty percent and millions of Americans have lost their coverage. But instead of addressing the very real damage they have caused in order to lower premiums, Republicans would rather attacks women’s health and encourage insurance companies to offer junk plans that can deny coverage to people with pre-existing conditions.

Enough is enough. It’s time for the GOP to stop this war on our health care. If President Trump and Congressional Republicans think that grandstanding on a stabilization bill to fix their own wreckage will give them political cover, they are dead wrong.

BACKGROUND

THE GOP HAS ATTEMPTED TO SABOTAGE AMERICANS’ HEALTH CARE AT EVERY TURN

From the moment that Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans took power, they’ve done everything they can to repeal and sabotage Americans’ health care. Now they’re claiming they want to stabilize the marketplaces and lower premiums. This false rhetoric is merely the latest ploy from Republicans who have seen the writing on the wall - Americans are furious about the Republican repeal- and-sabotage agenda.

For the better part of a year, President Trump and his Republican allies in Congress tried to repeal the Affordable Care Act legislatively, striving to kick 32 million Americans off of their coverage and returning to the days when insurers had the power to choose who to deny coverage to by removing protections for those with pre-existing conditions.

When this failed, they doubled down on their administrative sabotage, carrying out a closed-door campaign to undermine the law through administrative actions. These included cancelling cost-sharing reduction (CSR) payments designed to lower premiums; using funding for coverage enrollment to launch a propaganda campaign against the law; and attempting to gut open enrollment by reducing the advertising budget by 90% percent, costing an additional 1.1 million people coverage.

These repeal-and-sabotage attempts culminated in December, when the GOP voted to get rid of the individual mandate in their tax scam, ripping insurance away from ten million people and raising premiums double-digits for millions more in order to finance a tax cut for the wealthiest Americans and corporations.

In the time since, President Trump and his allies in Congress have promoted short-term health policies, which neglect key consumer protection provisions such as protections for those with pre-existing conditions and coverage mandates for essential benefits like maternity care; they have supported association health plans (AHPs), which raise costs for people with pre-existing conditions and further destabilize the insurance markets; and they have encouraged states to promote plans which violate the law, promoting and end-run around the ACA despite such procedures being labeled “wildly illegal.”

A study from the Urban Institute found that this sabotage will result in an increase in individual market premiums by an average of 18.2 percent for 2019.

THE GOP HAS REFUSED TO ACT ON MEASURES TO ACTUALLY STABILIZE THE MARKETS

What the GOP has not done through all of this, however, is undertake a genuine effort to actually stabilize the marketplaces.

Following the collapse of the legislative repeal bills in July, Senators Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Patty Murray (D-WA) began holding hearings on stabilization, bringing in insurance commissioners, governors, and health care experts of both parties. The GOP refused to act on their recommendations, however, instead pivoting to yet another attempt to repeal the ACA through the Graham-Cassidy legislation.

After Graham-Cassidy, which would have kicked twenty million Americans’ off of their insurance and raised premiums double-digits went down in flames, the GOP went through yet another charade on stabilization, refusing to move forward on the bipartisan Alexander-Murray bill to address stabilization despite it having a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate.

A STABILIZATION BILL MUST ACTUALLY STABILIZE THE MARKETPLACE

Now, the GOP says it wants to support stabilization measures. Where was this in the winter, when notices of skyrocketing premiums were going out across the country? Where was this in the fall, when experts were on Capitol Hill lamenting the damage being done to the marketplace? Where was this in the summer, when advocates were begging the GOP to do something rather than push forward yet another repeal bill?

Congressional Republican efforts to undo the damage they and President Trump have caused are wholly insufficient and often turn to failed ideas like high risk pools, which will leave Americans with higher costs and worse coverage. Any bill to stabilize the insurance marketplaces and reverse Republican-caused sabotage must:

● Expand affordability by increasing the value of premium tax credits and cost-sharing reduction protections; ● Ensure cost sharing protections fulfill their original purpose of improving affordability and Basic Health Plans are fully funded in order to protect coverage levels; ● Apply the consumer protections of the Affordable Care Act – such as guaranteed issue, community rating, protections for preexisting conditions – to short term duration plans and protect the essential health benefits from being undermined; ● Provide for a national meaningful reinsurance program that reduces current premium levels and stabilizes the market; ● Adequately fund outreach and enrollment efforts; ● Reject bringing back high-risk pools and Association Health Plans; two failed experiments that would have a destabilizing effect on the marketplace by incentivizing healthier individuals to leave the ACA compliant market, thereby negatively affecting the risk pool and increasing premiums; and ● Reject punitive and duplicative new anti-choice restrictions on health centers.

Many of the above provisions are included in the recent bills introduced in the Senate by Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and in the House by Reps. Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Richard Neal (D-MA), and Bobby Scott (D-VA). If Republicans in Congress truly care about stabilization, they will work with Democrats to adopt these provisions and implement a bipartisan, common-sense package to lower premiums and expand coverage options. Anything else is just crocodile tears from elected officials more worried about partisan politics than about Americans’ health.

Protect Our Care Coalition Highlights Women’s Health Gains, Trump Attacks During Protect Women’s Care Week

Last week the Protect Our Care coalition celebrated Protect Women’s Care week, outlining the progress our nation has made improving women’s care since the Affordable Care Act and highlighting ongoing threats from the Trump Administration and its Republican allies in Congress to roll back this progress. Here are the biggest gains made under the ACA, the worst attacks from Trump, and the grassroots activists standing up to the sabotage of women’s care:

SEN. MURRAY JOINS LEADING WOMEN’S GROUPS TO STAND UP FOR WOMEN’S CARE

Despite the rampant attacks coming from the Administration and Republicans in Congress, advocates have refused to back down. Last Thursday, on International Women’s Day, Sen. Patty Murray joined Protect Our Care, the National Partnership for Women & Families, the Black Women’s Health Imperative, and Planned Parenthood Federation of America to demand an end to the Trump administration’s attacks on women’s health and health care. As Kate Martin of the National Partnership wrote:

“‘Over and over again, President Trump and Vice President Pence have made clear they intend to interfere every way they can with a woman’s freedom to make health care decisions that are right for her,’ said Senator Murray. ‘People won’t stop resisting. Women who speak up for their rights are not going away. … We will continue to reject – loud and clear – the partisan, ideological Trump-Pence agenda that hurts women and families.’

The attacks include advancing policies that let insurance companies charge more for “pre-existing conditions” like pregnancy – or just being a woman. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) prevents insurers from denying, dropping or charging more because of a pre-existing condition like cancer, or even having a C-section. It also bans insurers from charging women higher rates than men (before the ACA, 92 percent of plans charged women up to 1.5 times as much as they charged men). But the Trump administration’s recent proposed “short-term” plan rule would allow insurance companies to sell more policies that skirt these protections, ultimately punishing women and all people with pre-existing conditions and destabilizing the health insurance marketplace. It’s just the latest in the administration’s ongoing attempt to sabotage the ACA…

These attacks are as unpopular as they are relentless, and they threaten the health, well-being and economic security of tens of millions of women and families. You can help fight back: Call your members of Congress and urge them to prioritize our health and health care, instead of a partisan political agenda. We all need to speak up now – and #pressforprogress on protecting our health care – before it’s too late!”

WOMEN (AND MEN) ACROSS THE COUNTRY STAND UP FOR WOMEN’S HEALTH

And in states across the country, women held rallies under the banner of Protect Women’s Care Week to made our voices heard.

All in all, Protect Women’s Care Week was a smashing success - women, and men, across the country stood up together made their voices loud and clear in support of women’s health. Enough is enough - it’s time for the Trump Administration to end their war on women’s health care.

Here’s a look back at key data from last week:

WOMEN’S HEALTH HAS IMPROVED TREMENDOUSLY UNDER THE ACA

As study after study shows, the Affordable Care Act has increased women’s access to health care and improved women’s health outcomes. New data show the improved health and economic outcomes women are experiencing now that the Affordable Care Act has covered more women than ever before, improved breast cancer and maternity care, guaranteed copay-free access to birth control, and stopped insurance companies from charging women more. These are some of the gains in women’s health care that President Trump and his Republican allies want to reverse through repeal and sabotage:

Historic Gains in Women’s Coverage

ACA Brought Women’s Uninsured Rate To All-Time Low. “By 2016, the number of working- age women...lacking health insurance had fallen by almost half since 2010, from 19 million to 11 million.” [Commonwealth Fund, 8/10/17]

After Medicaid Expansion, More Women Of Reproductive Age Have Health Coverage. “ACA Medicaid expansions decreased uninsurance among women of reproductive age with incomes below 100% FPL by 13.2 percentage points.” [Women’s Health Issues Journal, 2/28/2018]

With Pre-Existing Discrimination Ban, More Women With Cancer Histories Now Have Coverage

Women With Gynecologic Cancer More Likely To Be Insured Following ACA. “Between 2011 and 2014...uninsured rates decreased by 50% for those diagnosed with uterine and ovarian cancer…and by 25% in cervical cancer.” [Gynecologic Oncology, June 2017]

Better Access to Contraception

Under ACA, Women Saved $1.4 Billion On Birth Control Pills Alone In 2013. “Prior to the ACA, co-pays as low as $6 deterred women from obtaining the health care that they needed, and some women chose to forgo birth control because of cost. But data on prescription drug use in 2013, after the birth control benefit went into effect, indicate a nearly five percent uptick in filled birth control pill prescriptions...The birth control benefit saved women $1.4 billion on birth control pills alone in 2013.” [National Women’s Law Center, 5/3/17]

Improved Maternity Care & Newborn Outcomes

Before The ACA, 75% Of Individual Market Plans Did Not Include Maternity Care. “Three in four health plans in the non-group insurance market did not cover delivery and inpatient maternity care in 2013, before the [ACA] essential health benefits requirement took effect.” [Kaiser Family Foundation, 6/14/17]

ACA Improved The Health Of Women And Their Babies. “The dependent coverage provision of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that allowed young adults to stay on their parents' insurance until they were 26 was associated with increased use of prenatal care, increased private insurance payment for births, and a modest reduction in preterm births.” [JAMA, 2/13/18]

Infant Mortality Decreased In States That Expanded Medicaid. “New data shows that infant mortality rates decreased in states that expanded Medicaid.” [Newsweek, 1/31/18]

Better Breast Cancer Care & Prevention

Medicaid Expansion Improves The Quality Of Breast Cancer Care. “[The study] found a connection between Medicaid expansion and improved quality of breast cancer care...The number of screening mammograms covered by Medicaid increased from 5.6 percent before expansion to 14.7 percent afterward.” [Daily Kos, 2/21/18]

Following ACA’s Lower Costs, Mammogram Screening Rates Increase. “After the [ACA] eliminated cost sharing for screening mammograms, their rate of use rose six percentage points among older woman for whom such screenings were recommended.” [Brown University, 1/17/18]

TRUMP’S 11 WORST ATTACKS ON WOMEN

From restricting women’s access to family planning services to allowing insurance companies to change women more than men for health insurance, the Trump Administration has tirelessly attacked American women’s health. Here are the top 11 ways Trump is setting American women’s health back:

1. Letting Insurance Companies Charge Women More Than Men: Prior to the Affordable Care Act, 92 percent of plans in the market charged women up to 1.5 times as much as they charged men, in a practice known as gender rating. The Trump Administration is taking us back to the days when women could be charged more. Under the Trump Administration’s recent “short-term” rule, insurers would be able to skirt the ACA’s gender rating provision that banned insurers from charging different rates for men and women.

2. Letting Insurance Companies Charge More For “Pre-Existing Conditions” Like Pregnancy & Being A Woman: The Affordable Care Act prevents insurers from denying, dropping, or charging more because of a pre-existing condition like cancer, or even, having a C-section. But, the Trump Administration’s new “short-term” plan rule allows insurers to deny coverage because someone has a pre-existing condition, and will raise costs and jeopardize coverage for nearly 30 million women who have a pre-existing condition.

3. Making Maternity Care More Expensive: Before the Affordable Care Act, 75 percent of non- group plans did not cover delivery and inpatient care for maternity care. The ACA The Trump Administration and its Republican allies continue to advocate for policies, such as short-term and association health plans, that are not required to cover “essential health benefits,” and can thus force women to pay the nearly $20,000 it costs to give birth out of pocket.

4. Defunding Planned Parenthood: In January 2018, the Trump Administration announced it would roll back Obama Administration guidance that warned states not to carve Planned Parenthood out of their Medicaid providers, signaling its willingness to place even higher barriers in the way of women’s access to health care.

5. Making Women Pay More For Birth Control: The Trump Administration’s proposed rule to let any employer opt out of offering health insurance that covers birth control rolls back the ACA’s guarantee that women may access copay-free contraception.

6. Cutting Medicaid: President Trump’s calls to cut Medicaid put women’s lives and jobs at risk. The Trump Administration’s recent budget slashed Medicaid funding by more than $1 trillion over the next decade. These cuts will jeopardize the care of the nearly 13 million women of reproductive age who rely on Medicaid, including 31 percent of African-American women and 27 percent of Hispanic women in this age group. Moreover, 22.8 percent of women in the workforce are employed in the health industry, meaning their jobs may be at risk as well.

7. Making New Moms Choose Between Working Or Losing Coverage: Almost two-thirds of those who would lose Medicaid coverage as a result of work requirements are women, and disproportionately women of color. This is in part because women are more likely to be caregivers for sick family members and children. Under these rules, a new mom would have 60 days to find health coverage after giving birth or risk their family’s health coverage.

8. Stacking Federal Courts With Anti-Choice Judges: The next generation of American women will face a growing threat posed by an increasingly anti-choice federal judiciary. Twelve of Trump’s judicial nominees were appointed to circuit courts during his first year – more than any other first-year president in American history.

9. Reversing Progress Against Breast Cancer: Republicans’ repeated attempts to undermine the Affordable Care Act’s essential health benefits threaten landmark progress in women’s preventive health. New research finds that the ACA requirement that plans (including Medicare) must cover recommended preventive care without a copay led to a significant increase in the number of women receiving mammography screenings.

10. Cutting Funding For Teen Pregnancy Prevention Programs: The administration slashed two years off of five-year grants dedicated to teen pregnancy prevention research, which have already been promised to organizations across the country.

11. Allowing States To Defund Clinics That Offer Abortion Care: Trump signed a bill allowing states to withhold Title X family planning funds from health care providers that offer abortion- related care. Thirteen states used to withhold the Title X money from abortion providers before the Obama administration blocked them. (Because of the Hyde Amendment, federal funds can't be used to pay for abortions, so the Title X money went to other health services at those clinics.) The legislation allows them to withhold the funds again and redirect them to providers that don't offer abortion care.

MEDICAID CUTS DISPROPORTIONATELY HURT WOMEN

Republicans are waging a war on Medicaid, and it’s hurting American women the most. Proposed cuts to Medicaid disproportionately impact women, who make up over two-thirds of adults with Medicaid coverage.

MEDICAID CUTS TAKE WOMEN’S ACCESS TO COVERAGE AND CARE

Millions of Women Rely on Medicaid for Health Care. More than 16.3 million women in the U.S. are enrolled in Medicaid. [Kaiser Family Foundation, 2017]

Medicaid Helps Pay For Long-Term Care, Mostly For Elderly Women. 69 percent of the 9 million people covered by both Medicare and Medicaid are women. [Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 5/11/17]

MEDICAID CUTS RESTRICT REPRODUCTIVE & MATERNITY CARE FOR WOMEN

Medicaid Is The Largest Single Payer Of Pregnancy-Related Services. Medicaid financed 48 percent of all U.S. births in 2010. [Kaiser Family Foundation, 6/22/17]

Medicaid Is The Largest Financier Of Publicly Funded Family Planning Services. Medicaid accounts for 75 percent of all public expenditures on family planning services. [Kaiser Family Foundation, 6/22/17]

Women With Medicaid Are More Likely Than Those With Private Insurance To Have Discussed Sexual Health With Providers. “In 2013, women with Medicaid coverage were more likely than women with private insurance to report they had spoken with a provider about sexual history, HIV, and intimate partner violence.” [Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 5/11/17]

[Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 5/11/17]

The Administration’s Attacks On Medicaid Jeopardize Women’s Access To Cancer Screening, Maternity Care, And Birth Control. “Fewer people on Medicaid means fewer women accessing health and reproductive services that do things like cover cancer screenings, improve access to birth control, and make sure moms and babies have health care throughout a pregnancy and in the months after a baby is born.” [Vox, 1/31/18]

NEW MEDICAID REQUIREMENTS MAKE IT HARDER FOR WOMEN TO GET COVERED

Nearly 2 In 3 People Who Would Lose Medicaid Coverage Because Of Work Requirements Are Women. “Almost two-thirds (62 percent) of those who could lose Medicaid coverage due to work requirements are women.” [Planned Parenthood, 1/11/18]

Work Requirements Punish Women Caring For Loved Ones. “It is already challenging for women with health conditions or who are caring for loved ones to work, and Medicaid work requirements will only make this harder...This means, for example, that a woman not covered by the FMLA who is enrolled in Medicaid could lose her job if she takes time away from work to get cancer treatment, and then lose her health coverage due to Medicaid work requirements. Losing Medicaid could be a death sentence for this woman.” [National Partnership for Women and Families, 2/28/18]

Medicaid Work Requirements Pose A Unique Burden On Women Of Color. “Due to racism and other systemic barriers that have contributed to income inequality, women of color are disproportionately likely to be insured through Medicaid: 31 percent of Black women and 27 percent of Hispanic women aged 15–44 were enrolled in Medicaid in 2015, compared with 16 percent of white women. Medicaid pays for nearly half of all U.S. births and is the largest payer of publicly funded family planning services.” [National Partnership for Women and Families, 2/28/18]

MEDICAID CUTS TAKE WOMEN’S JOBS

Medicaid Creates Jobs In The Health Industry, Which Employs Nearly 23% Of All Women In The American Workforce. “Women’s high participation in the health care industry, which employs more than 22.8% of all women in the workforce,4 means that Medicaid disproportionately creates jobs for women. This is especially true because Medicaid covers services that other payors typically do not cover and are more likely to be delivered by women, like long-term services and supports.” [National Women’s Law Center, June 2017]

Threats To Medicaid Are Threats To Women’s Livelihoods. “Women would be uniquely impacted by these changes, not only because women disproportionately are enrolled in Medicaid, but also because women occupy jobs whose funding relies on Medicaid. Such changes would threaten the livelihood of millions of women and families across the country.” [National Women’s Law Center, June 2017]

EXPERTS: CUTTING MEDICAID HURTS WOMEN

Black Women’s Health Imperative: Medicaid Work Requirements Threaten Health Care For Low-Income Black Women. “There is a clear disconnect between this false and discriminatory narrative and the actual reality that Black women in poverty face every day. The truth is that over 70% of Black women on Medicaid already work hard everyday to support their families but, due to systemic inequalities, they earn less and face unfair barriers to health care. These jobs simply do not pay enough for women to afford health insurance.” [Black Women’s Health Imperative, 1/11/18]

Planned Parenthood: Women Lose The Most Under Trump’s Latest Attack On Medicaid. “With about one in five women of reproductive age relying on Medicaid for their health care and women accounting for approximately 62 percent of Medicaid enrollees who could lose coverage because of this enrollment restriction, this change will especially hurt women, particularly those who already face the highest barriers to care.” [Planned Parenthood, 1/11/18]

National Women’s Law Center: Medicaid Work Requirements Would Reduce Access To Care For Women Without Increasing Employment. “Many of the arguments underlying work requirements are designed to stoke racial resentment about entitlement programs, particularly playing upon harmful stereotypes of women of color...work requirements would endanger individuals’ health and economic security in many cases, with a particularly harsh impact on women.” [National Women’s Law Center, April 2017]

Local Headlines

Check out what coverage health care received in local areas nationwide. Below are some highlights:

Alaska ● Alaska Journal of Commerce: House passes supplemental budget to cover some of Medicaid shortfall

Colorado ● Pueblo Chieftain: Health care's 'death by 1,000 cuts'

Maine ● Bangor Daily News: Poliquin’s health care vote

Nevada ● Las Vegas Sun: Nevadans’ health care worth fighting for

Ohio ● Crain’s Cleveland Business: Ohio's proposed Medicaid eligibility requirements could cost counties millions

Pennsylvania ● Gazette-Mail: Pennsylvania voters see through GOP's tax charade ● Philadelphia Inquirer: Short-term health plans will undermine the ACA

West Virginia ● Register-Herald: Trump's war on health care will hurt West Virginians ● Register-Herald: War on health care causes casualties in West Virginia ● Wheeling News-Register: Don’t Cut Back on Programs Vital to West Virginians

PROTECT OUR CARE ** WEEKLY WRAP up ** [ March 10-16, 2018 ]

PROTECT OUR CARE WEEKLY WRAP up [ March 10-16, 2018 ]