Equality California: New Healthcare Repeal Bill is 'Immoral'

Los Angeles – In response to the Senate's just-released bill that would repeal portions of the Affordable Care Act, Equality California Executive Director Rick Zbur issued the following statement:

"The bill unveiled today by the Senate isn't just mean, as Donald Trump himself admits about the House version, it's immoral. If passed, it will have a devastating impact on the health and lives of millions of LGBTQ people and people living with HIV, who will  lose health insurance under the Senate bill.

Millions of LGBTQ people would lose healthcare coverage under legislation, including people living with HIV and transgender people who received coverage for the first time under the ACA. Because LGBTQ people are twice as likely to be living in poverty as the general public, the Medicaid expansion and federal subsidies are important components of the ACA which significantly increased healthcare coverage for people in the LGBTQ community.

The weakening of protections for people with preexisting conditions means that insurers can once again deny coverage to millions of people or charge them exorbitant premiums, which effectively denies them coverage. The bill also guts Medicaid and hundreds of billions of dollars in federal insurance subsidies, making healthcare unaffordable for millions more. It also imposes a one-year freeze on Medicaid reimbursements to Planned Parenthood, a vital healthcare provider on which millions of women and LGBTQ people depend for a wide range of healthcare services.

In addition to the cruel and harmful impact on the LGBTQ community, the Republican proposal would devastate the health and wellbeing of millions of vulnerable Americans, including those who are low-income, disabled, living with HIV, older than 50, in poor health or have mental health needs. 

Equality California is committed to fighting this bill in the days ahead in Washington, D.C., in California and across the country to preserve healthcare access for the LGBTQ community and all Americans."

Equality California is the nation's largest statewide lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender civil rights organization dedicated to creating a fair and just society. Our mission is to achieve and maintain full and lasting equality, acceptance and social justice for all people in our diverse LGBT communities, inside and outside of California. Our mission includes advancing the health and well-being of LGBT Californians through direct healthcare service advocacy and education. Through electoral, advocacy, education and mobilization programs, we strive to create a broad and diverse alliance of LGBT people, educators, government officials, communities of color and faith, labor, business, and social justice communities to achieve our goals. www.eqca.org