Donald Trump and his team of relentless Republican legislators are on a quest to undo all that President Obama has put in place with the Affordable Care Act, but what does that really mean for the millions of Americans who currently receive healthcare coverage under the ACA?
Earlier this week, the White House released a break down of all the benefits that are in jeopardy of being taken away should the GOP successfully repeal Obamacare. To keep you in the loop, here’s a list of ways you or your family might be negatively affected if Obamacare falls into the hands of Republican lawmakers who want to see it eliminated.
Expectant mothers
-Pregnancy could be considered a pre-existing condition
-Given that 60% of healthcare plan enrollees weren’t covered for maternity leave prior to the ACA, new Republican-backed healthcare plans are likely to not include maternity leave coverage.
-New and expectant mothers would receive little no help with out-of-pocket costs.
-Most current programs that support healthy pregnancies, births and newborns would no longer exist, thus greatly increasing the risk of future family health problems developing.
A woman with a history of family breast cancer looking to start family
– She is likely to face significant problems finding coverage and could even be excluded from coverage altogether because of her family history.
– She would have to cover out-of-pocket costs for her annual well woman’s visit.
– She would find it much more difficult to begin effective family planning.
-When needed, she would have to pay for contraceptives.
Elderly women at risk for diabetes
–Co-pays for annual check ups, which include diabetes pre-screenings, would not be covered. As a result, elderly patients looking to save money will skip check ups.
– If then diagnosed with pre-diabetes, Republican-revised medicare plans would not cover the Diabetes Prevention Program, which would largely increase the changes of developing full-blown diabetes.
-Insulin costs would increase significantly.
-When discharged from the hospital following a fall, she would lose access to assistance to help her with medication instructions or how to arrange for follow up care.
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A mother and wife with job-based insurance who has a child with a serious heart condition
-She and her husband would face significant challenges with finding healthcare sufficient enough to provide adequate care for their son.
-Because of the costly requirements of caring for complex heart defects, the couple would likely reach their plan limit very quickly and would then be left to pay for their son’s care on their own.
-Their employer may not be required to provide healthcare for their son up until age 26, thus leaving him to have to cover expensive healthcare costs on his own at a younger age.
-Discrimination against individuals with pre-existing conditions would no longer be illegal, thus making possible that the child will never be able to receive sufficient healthcare coverage after age 26.
A woman with limited income who suffers from an undiagnosed mental illness
-As she would not be able to afford healthcare costs, her condition would remain undiagnosed as it worsened.
-He would frequent the emergency room to receive care because of his lack of health insurance.
-Lacking access to necessary healthcare options to treat her condition, like psychiatrists and prescribed medication, she increases her chances falling into the cycle of substance abuse to cope.
-Affordable coverage to properly treat her undiagnosed condition would not be available.
For the full list of what’s at stake under an Obamacare repeal, see the official White House release here.