NCJW Calls House Vote to Overturn Health Care Law Political Theater
July 11, 2012, Washington, DC – The National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) today called the vote by the House of Representatives to repeal the Affordable Health Care Act ill-advised and counterproductive. NCJW CEO Nancy K. Kaufman released the following statement:
“The vote by the US House of Representatives to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is pure political theater, designed to divert attention away from the decision by the US Supreme Court upholding the law as constitutional and toward dire predictions of doom when ACA takes full effect in 2014. NCJW strongly supported ACA and we believe that repeal of the new law would be an egregious blow to women and families and to everyone unable to pay the full cost of health care out of pocket.
“Repeal would mean insurance companies could again charge women higher premiums than men. It would end the provision of a wide range of preventive services without co-pays or other out-of-pocket expense. For women those services include mammograms, Pap tests, a wide range of prenatal screenings, well-woman visits, the full range of FDA-approved contraceptives, lactation consultations and supplies, and domestic violence screenings. It would mean that those with pre-existing conditions would no longer be assured insurance coverage—a provision with special significance for women, who have been denied coverage because of a previous Caesarean section or because they have experienced domestic violence or sexual assault and received related treatment.
“Were ACA to be repealed, the prospect of access for millions of poor families to an expanded Medicaid program would evaporate, leading them to forego care until they appear at the emergency room door requiring treatment that is more expensive, more complicated, and often less effective due to delay. Perhaps most important, repeal would mean that once again an estimated 40,000 people a year would die because they lacked lack health insurance.
“The House of Representatives would be better advised to urge states to accept the federal money offered to expand Medicaid, work to set up the exchanges they may operate under the new law, and to prepare generally for the law’s implementation rather than waste further time and energy on symbolic repudiation of the first effort in the US to ensure near-universal health care at affordable rates.”
The National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) is a grassroots organization of volunteers and advocates who turn progressive ideals into action. Inspired by Jewish values, NCJW strives for social justice by improving the quality of life for women, children, and families and by safeguarding individual rights and freedoms.
Contact: Brianne Nadeau,
202-265-3000 Brianne@rabinowitz-dorf.com