For Immediate Release: October 16, 2019
Contact: Kemi Giwa, 510-493-1766, kemi.giwa@berlinrosen.com
ACA Protections are Essential for Transgender Americans and Millions More
Washington, DC – In response to a federal judge overturning the Affordable Care Act (ACA) protections for transgender patients, Health Care for America Now Executive Director Margarida Jorge released the following statement:
“Today’s ruling to deny transgender Americans the same health care protections as everyone else is an assault on fairness. No one should be denied the health care they need, regardless of race, age, geography, gender or other arbitrary criteria. The ACA made meaningful progress by providing essential protections for millions of Americans from discrimination by health care providers and insurers, but this ruling turns back the clock on rights and protections we should be working to expand.
This decision is a preview of the damage to come as long as President Trump and the Republicans in Congress continue to promote the interests of insurance companies and pharmaceutical corporations over the well-being of their own constituents. Soon, we could see all of the protections in the ACA overturned in the Texas v. United States case, enabling insurance companies to once again charge more or refuse coverage for people with preexisting conditions, women and transgender people. Rather than continue the endless war on health care through attacks on the Affordable Care Act, by encouraging privatization of Medicare and by restricting access to reproductive health option, the Trump Administration should keep his promises to improve health care and lower the cost of prescription drugs.
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Health Care for America Now (HCAN) is the national grassroots coalition that ran a $60 million five-and-a-half year campaign from 2008-2013 to pass, protect, and promote the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and protect Medicare and Medicaid. HCAN has come back together to fight the Republicans’ all-out effort to take away America’s health care and put people at the mercy of the health insurance companies again.
