Kritchanut / iStock
The National Coalition for Mental Health Recovery (NCMHR), a national organization comprising statewide organizations of individuals with lived experience of a mental health condition as well as individual members, has urged legislators to oppose the American Health Care Act.
"The Congressionally proposed American Health Care Act, also known as Trumpcare, is un-American and would have a disastrous impact on the lives of millions of vulnerable Americans," said Daniel Fisher, a founder and board member of the NCMHR.
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has calculated that, if it becomes law, the American Health Care Act will cause 24 million Americans to lose healthcare coverage by 2026. It would cause premiums for single policyholders to increase by 15 percent to 20 percent by 2018.
Especially disastrous would be Trumpcare's impact on Medicaid.
"Trumpcare would cause states to lose $370 billion in federal Medicaid funding," Dr. Fisher said. "Furthermore, Trumpcare would remove a requirement that currently exists under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to provide mental health coverage, as well as coverage of substance use disorder treatment. It would be up to the state legislatures to decide whether to include such coverage.
"However, many states would not require insurance coverage of mental health or substance abuse services. This would leave a huge number of people who have mental health and/or substance use issues without affordable services," he said.
"We represent millions of persons with mental health conditions who are grateful that the ACA increased the number of people with health care coverage by 22 million Americans. We call on Congress to reject Trumpcare and instead improve upon the ACA, which has already proved indispensable to countless numbers of Americans."
Trumpcare, American Health Care Act, National Coalition for Mental Health Recovery, US
