NYAPRS Note: Once again, Ron Manderscheid puts it all in clear terms and tells us why it’s imperative that we reach out to our Congress members over the April recess. Ron emphasizes that the GOP’s healthcare proposals threaten to remove community ratings that prevent any groups from becoming disadvantaged in their health insurance premiums, eliminate provisions that require plans to ensure that everyone is guaranteed access to insurance and remove essential benefits requirements that currently ensure that Americans get access to mental health and substance use benefits.
Ron closes with “we must advocate in every corner and on every rooftop so that we don’t lose our moral society. The very future of who we are and who we want to be clearly is at stake.” See our next posting for what you can and must do!
Preserving Our Moral Values In Healthcare Reform
by Ron Manderscheid, PhD, Executive Director, NACBHDD and NARMH
Behavioral Healthcare, April 6, 2017
Almost a fortnight ago, brief, blissful respite from our national healthcare struggles seemed to be upon us. The White House and the House GOP leadership had capitulated and agreed that the disastrous American Health Care Act (AHCA) could not even garner enough Republican votes to pass the House. Early on a Friday evening, this was wonderful news for all Americans, including those with behavioral health and ID/DD conditions.
Now, like a sphinx rising from its own ashes, an even more draconian version of the AHCA is being crafted by the White House and the House GOP. As before, the White House is negotiating with moderate Republican House members and with the ultra-right American Freedom Caucus. Disingenuously, the White House appears to be telling these two groups somewhat different things.
Read more at: https://www.behavioral.net/blogs/ron-manderscheid/preserving-our-moral-values-healthcare-reform