Time to Write Your Senators for Health Care

The American Health Care Act (AHCA) passed last week by the Republicans in the House, will, if passed by the Senate in the same form, return Americans to a broken health-care system that ignores the basic health-care needs of women and their families.

The bill allows insurance companies, once again, to eliminate coverage for birth control and prenatal and maternity care, and coerces insurance companies not to cover abortion services. In other words, women who struggle each month to pay their bills will pay more to prevent pregnancy, pay more for prenatal medical care, and pay more for labor and delivery. New parents, supported by Medicaid, will be required to find work within 60 days of delivery or lose their health coverage.

Members of Congress and their families, whose insurance coverage is exempted from provisions of the AHCA and who in any event earn salaries sufficient to pay for such services, will be untouched by these restrictions.