GOP bill gambles with women’s health

Editor’s Note: Jen Psaki, a CNN political commentator and spring fellow at the Georgetown Institute of Politics and Public Service, served as the White House communications director and State Department spokeswoman during the Obama administration. She has worked as a consultant for Planned Parenthood Federation of America. Follow her: @jrpsaki. The opinions expressed in this commentary are hers.

A vote on legislation to repeal and replace Obamacare has been delayed, as Republicans haggle furiously over just how destructive they can agree to be.

Jen Psaki

But perhaps this delay offers a chance for Republicans in the House to take a deep breath and realize what this is really about: a political win for the Republican leadership and the Trump White House. This is not an effort to make health care more accessible and affordable for Americans.

Health care policy is never easy politics, but because dismantling the present health care system would have such a profound effect on American citizens, it represents a test of leadership and character for members of Congress.

Are they scared of the threats and political analysis coming from a guy — their guy, the President – who is not steeped in the details of policy by any account and who has a 37% approval rating? Or are they going to work to make health care better, not worse, for the American public?

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Regardless of who had won the election, Obamacare required some fixing. For example, there needs to be more competition in the insurance market – and there are many ways to address that. But the notion that Obamacare is in a “death spiral” is baloney. More than 20 million people now have health insurance who didn’t before, the uninsured rate is below 10%, the lowest it has been in history. Not exactly a disaster.

The GOP’s bill is another story. As the bill worked its way through the House, the changes quietly made to it have become ever more draconian and devastating to low-income families, to seniors, people living with disabilities, and to women. All in pursuit of a political win.

This is a fight worth having. And now that we may have some more time to defeat this bill, it’s time to get active. For the millions who marched in the streets the weekend after the presidential inauguration as a part of the Women’s March this should be the next thing that gets those pink hats out of the closet.

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The details are startling.

One of the “fixes” put in place to appease the Freedom Caucus is the option to impose work requirements as a condition of obtaining Medicaid coverage. The bill also gives states the ability to revoke Medicaid from new mothers if they don’t find work within 60 days of giving birth. That is two months after giving birth. Work requirements disproportionately impact women as they currently account for 62% of Medicaid enrollees who are not working.

And by eliminating the essential health benefits, or EHB, provision, which requires plans to cover maternity and newborns, the bill makes it less likely that plans will cover maternity care at all.

Then there is birth control. The “controversial” product that tens of millions of women, including Republicans, not only rely on, but support would become more expensive for many women who have birth control covered by Medicaid, as a result of the Medicaid cuts the GOP proposes. Paying out of pocket for birth control can cost a woman up to $600 per year, and for the 16.7 million women who benefit from Medicaid, that simply isn’t affordable.

These policies treat women like an opportunity for cost savings, not the mothers, grandmothers, caregivers and hardworking members of society who deserve better.

While the President of the United States may be ready to gamble away benefits like playing cards, the women and men of the House and Senate have an opportunity to put people, including millions of women, above party. We will soon see if they are up to the task.