National Council of Jewish Women Issues Statement on ACA Repeal Bill

WASHINGTON, March 7 -- The National Council of Jewish Women issued the following statement by CEO Nancy K. Kaufman on the public unveiling of the bill intended to repeal the Affordable Care Act:

The National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) reacted today to the public unveiling of the bill intended to repeal the Affordable Care Act. NCJW CEO Nancy K. Kaufman released the following statement:

"NCJW is proud to have worked to help enact the Affordable Care Act (ACA). We will work even harder to defeat efforts to kill it. The long-promised bill to repeal and replace the ACA has been unveiled after secret consideration by GOP legislators with no input from the general public or interested stakeholders. It is an unmitigated disaster for all Americans, not just those who have benefitted from expanded Medicaid or found insurance in the ACA marketplaces, because it will drive up the cost of health care across the board. It revives the worst features of our pre-ACA health landscape, and for good measure defunds Planned Parenthood, a key part of the national health care system for women and families.

"As a practical matter, through a funding shell game, the bill would effectively end Medicaid expansion, leaving states on their own to cope with meeting the needs of those who depend on it for coverage, including individuals enmeshed in the opioid epidemic, all who need routine care, and the safe delivery of nearly half the nation's babies. The bill would thus resurrect expensive visits to hospital emergency rooms as the first line of care in our health care system. Premiums will rise along with out-of-pocket costs, and only the wealthy will be able to benefit from proposed health care savings accounts. Those with pre-existing conditions will be punished for gaps in coverage. The list of deleterious provisions in the bill is long, and Republicans plan an accelerated push to get it through Congress without the careful consideration of the facts and debate that a bill of this magnitude deserves.

"Americans believe in and depend on federal support for our health care system. Every country that ensures comprehensive health care does the same. Health care is not just another commodity. It is a moral commitment made by all of us, to all of us. NCJW will do everything in our power to defeat this bill and others like it."

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