It’s been a year since House Republicans failed to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA), but today health care is under even greater threat from the Trump Administration:
- Rather than working to expand health care coverage, the Trump Administration gave permission for states to impose burdensome requirements that could kick millions of Americans off of Medicaid.
- The Trump Administration has also made it easier for health care providers to deny basic care for LGBT individuals. It recently announced a plan to roll back rules that prevent doctors, hospitals, and health insurance companies from discriminating against transgender people.
- The Trump Administration has continued its complete disregard for women and their health, removing the guarantee that health insurance cover birth control – allowing virtually any employer or university to decide to not offer coverage for their employees or students.
- Finally, the Trump Administration continues to undermine the ACA. After slashing outreach efforts to enroll Americans in health insurance last year, the Administration continues to systematically sabotage our health care system. Most recently, Trump has proposed reversing restrictions on junk insurance plans—products that have no requirements to cover essential services such as maternity care or pre-existing conditions. These changes would undermine the current insurance marketplaces, while harming people who believe they’re actually receiving coverage.
All this adds up to a historic attack on the public health and well-being of Americans. Millions will lose coverage, millions more will lose protections.
With the GOP in control of all three branches of government, I will continue to resist their assaults on health care. At the same time, that’s not stopping me from fighting for progress:
The reality is that the ACA alone will not resolve health inequity or guarantee access to care, and the Trump Administration’s so-called “reforms” will make our system worse.
The United States needs a truly universal, single-payer health care system. We must recognize health care as a right, not a privilege. I’ve helped introduce H.R. 676, the Expanded and Improved Medicare for All Act, which establishes a single-payer health care system, and I’m urging my colleagues in Congress to provide health coverage for all Americans.
In case you missed it: last year, I hosted a public forum on single-payer health care, and we were joined by T.R. Reid, Author of New York Times Bestseller, “The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper and Fairer Health Care.” C-SPAN filmed the event, and you can watch it here.
