TFAH: Senate’s Latest Obamacare Replacement Effort Will Not Improve Health Care

WASHINGTON, July 25 -- The Trust for America's Health issued the following statement by President and CEO John Auerbach on the Senate's motion to proceed with health care vote:

"Each new iteration of Obamacare repeal legislation has failed to do what a health bill should: improve the nation's health.

"We know--according to the Congressional Budget Office's scores on any number of the attempted bills--that tens of millions of people will quickly lose access to health insurance and the preventive services and programs which keep them from developing debilitating and costly chronic diseases.

"That is, simply, the opposite of what a bill--intended to improve the nation's health--should do.

"Continued attempts to eliminate the Prevention and Public Health Fund would irreparably harm the nation's health. States and communities rely on the hundreds of millions of dollars they receive annually to work on the critical health issues--including the opioid epidemic, lead poisoning, obesity, tobacco use and vaccine-preventable illnesses--facing their citizens.

"To date, any funding included in repeal legislation for the opioid crisis has been nowhere near enough to solve the problem and will not make up for the substantially larger cuts to Medicaid and the Prevention Fund.

"Estimates have found that the total coverage cost for people receiving treatment for substance misuse disorders could reach $220 billion over the next decade. And, people with substance misuse disorders often suffer from additional health problems - for example, mental illness and chronic conditions such as heart disease or diabetes - and need the routine access to care and services provided by Medicaid. As such, substance misuse treatment must remain part of the Medicaid integrated care system.

"TFAH encourages the Administration and Congress to start over and create a true healthcare bill that will improve upon Obamacare, keep people covered and safeguard the nation's health."