As with all previous Republican efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the Graham-Cassidy-Heller proposal includes a provision to “defund” Planned Parenthood.
“Every version of Trumpcare, including Graham-Cassidy-Heller, has been devastating to women, making it harder to prevent unintended pregnancy, harder to have a healthy pregnancy, and harder to raise a family. Rather than taking health care away, Congress should listen to the American people and focus on bipartisan fixes to expand access to care,” said Sarah Stoesz, President, Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota Action Fund.
Here are the facts on the bill:
- The Graham-Cassidy-Heller proposal to “defund” Planned Parenthood would block millions of women from going to Planned Parenthood for preventive care services, including birth control, cancer screenings, and STD testing and treatment.
- The Graham-Cassidy-Heller proposal slashes Medicaid, resulting in millions of Americans losing coverage. It ends nationwide protections for maternity coverage and other basic care for women. Thirteen million women could lose coverage to maternity care under this bill. It also allows insurance companies to charge people with pre-existing condition exorbitant premiums. And it raises premiums on millions by eliminating the tax credits that help middle class families pay for health care.
- In Minnesota, 38% of Planned Parenthood patients—nearly 24,000 people each year—use Medicaid to access health care at Planned Parenthood. If Planned Parenthood were excluded from Medicaid, these patients would not be able to use their insurance at Planned Parenthood clinics to access services like birth control, lifesaving cancer screenings, STD testing, and annual exams. (Federal Medicaid funding is never used for abortions.)
- Planned Parenthood does not receive a blank check from the government, and is not a line item in the budget. Like any other health care provider or hospital, Planned Parenthood is reimbursed for services they provide to patients.
- Of all of the Medicaid providers and hospitals that provide reproductive care, Congress is singling out Planned Parenthood and threatening the critical care millions of patients rely on.
“At the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, we are opposed to any changes in the ACA that would turn back the clock on women's health. By denying women access to preventative care, contraceptive coverage and life-saving cancer screening, the Graham-Cassidy Bill, the latest proposal to repeal the ACA, does just that. In Minnesota, nearly 24,000 Medicaid enrollees obtained these basic services from Planned Parenthood Clinics, one of the targets of the Graham-Cassidy Bill. And the proposed cuts in Medicaid in the bill would directly impact the 60% of expectant mothers in Minnesota who rely on Medicaid to obtain maternity care. Denying these basic and preventative services is penny wise and pound foolish. We cannot afford to implement a bill that turns back the clock on women's health,” said Dr. Douglas Creedon, Chair of the Minnesota Section of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
Planned Parenthood is an essential part of the health care safety net in Minnesota. With our network of 18 clinics across the state, one in five women in Minnesota has relied on Planned Parenthood for vital reproductive health care services. We will fight to ensure that our 67,000 patients are able to receive a wide range of health care services, including reproductive health and family planning services, breast and cervical examinations and testing and treatment for STDs from the health care provider of their choice.
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