On Mother’s Day: Tester And NY Times Best-Selling Author Heidi Murkoff Raise Alarms About House Health Care Bill

WASHINGTON, May 14 -- The office of Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., issued the following news release:

U.S. Senator Jon Tester and New York Times Best-Selling Author of 'What to Expect When You're Expecting' Heidi Murkoff are teaming up to raise awareness about the harmful impacts of the House's recently passed American Health Care Act (AHCA) on mothers.

In a joint Mother's Day op-ed, Tester and Murkoff outlined what's at risk if Congress moves the AHCA forward.

"Healthy futures - the kind of future that every mom and dad wants for their baby - start with healthy beginnings," wrote Tester and Murkoff. "But under this irresponsible plan, states could opt out of requiring health insurance companies to cover maternity care and allow them to claim pregnancy as a preexisting condition. This essentially imposes a pregnancy tax - a healthy baby surcharge, if you will - of around $17,000 on expectant parents. Even women who are just thinking about becoming pregnant would have to disclose their baby dreams to health insurance companies, and could be forced to pay more if pregnancy were in their plans, literally."

Tester and Murkoff also pointed out that Medicaid, which currently pays for nearly 50 percent of births in the U.S., will be slashed under the AHCA, depriving hundreds of thousands of moms and families prenatal care, safe deliveries, and newborn care.

You can read the entire op-ed HERE (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/this-mothers-day-we-must-acknowledge-the-negative-impacts-of-the-ahca_us_5917a034e4b00f308cf5b8eb?xb07). Any media outlet wishing to republish may do so.