You’ve really got to hand it to the House Republicans. When they decide to wade into an issue as complex and that impacts as many people as healthcare does, they really know how to royally screw things up beyond belief.
Today, the GOP-controlled House narrowly passed their repeal and replace legislation for the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which should now and forever be known as Trumpcare because like Trump, it’s all flash and no substance. It will mean that as many as 24 million Americans would lose health insurance should it become the law of the land, and it will also have some hidden landmines that we’re just discovering.
For example, under Trumpcare, the MacArthur-Meadows amendment would allow states to waive the Obamacare ban on charging higher premiums for women who have been raped. You probably didn’t think it possible that an insurer could consider rape to be a preexisting condition, but before Obamacare became law, it was.
Gina Scaramella, executive director of the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center, recalled a case she saw before the Obamacare bill passed:
“In one widely reported case, a 45-year-old woman met two men at a bar in Florida who bought her a drink. Hours later, she found herself lying by the side of the road with injuries indicating that she had been raped and that the men had spiked her drink. Her doctor prescribed a treatment of anti-viral, post-HIV exposure drugs to protect against HIV transmission.
“When the woman lost her health insurance several months after the attack, she was unable to obtain new insurance due to the health care treatment she had received for the assault.”
But that’s not all. Here are some other things that could become preexisting conditions if Trumpcare is passed by the Senate and becomes law:
- Postpartum depression.
- Being pregnant.
- Having a previous C-section.
- Being a survivor of domestic violence.
Dr. Diane Horvath-Cosper of Physicians for Reproductive Health noted:
“Prior to the ACA, insurance companies could charge more based on your previous health history, and there were no regulations that defined what could be considered a preexisting condition, hence the stories about the wide range of reasons that people were given for why they were either being denied coverage, had to wait on when coverage would be available, or charged a higher rate based on their previous health conditions.
“With the new language, states could opt out of having to adhere to the ACA rule about insurance not being able to deny coverage based on a preexisting condition, or charge higher rates for those conditions.”
So congrats, GOP! You just managed to make the most traumatic thing a woman can ever endure a financial burden, too. You guys are about as cold and heartless as the asshole in the White House.
Featured Image Via YouTube
