Latest GOP Plan 'Is Even Worse for Women's Health Than Previous Repeal Bills'

As Senate Republicans scramble to pass legislation that experts say is their “most radical” and damaging healthcare repeal yet—gutting Medicaid and leaving millions uninsured—reproductive rights advocates warn the new bill would be especially damaging for women.

The bill, coauthored by Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.), would eliminate Affordable Care Act (ACA) mandates requiring all Americans to have health insurance or pay a tax penalty, and all large employers to offer insurance plans. It would also end cost-sharing subsidies for insurers and tax credits that help Americans afford coverage.

Further, the plan would halt Medicaid expansion, and restructure the distribution of federal funding so that states receive block grants, or lump sums to allocate as they see fit. As Anna North at Vox notes, “its program of block grants would create new ways for the federal government to restrict abortion coverage.”

As North explains:

The bill would also limit access to Planned Parenthood and allow states to apply for waivers to scrap rules that mandate coverage for essential health benefits such as maternity care.

While an estimated 13 million women would lose access to maternal care under Graham-Cassidy, others would be forced to pay higher premiums. A Center for American Progress analysis estimated that insurance providers would charge upwards of $17,000 more in premiums for pregnancy.

Ending Medicaid expansion would significantly affect millions of women of color and those with low incomes. According to the Guttmacher Institute, Medicaid covers 20 percent of American women aged 15-44, and in 2015, provided coverage for 48 percent of women whose incomes were below the federal poverty line.