On June 16th, the Senate Finance Committee released its portion of the “Big beautiful bill” (H.R. 1), a first step in moving the bill forward in that chamber. This comes after the House narrowly passed its version of the bill last month. Both chambers' versions of the bill would result in more than 10 million people losing their health insurance and access to reproductive health care. Specifically, the House and Senate versions of the bill would:
- Ban Medicaid funding from going to Planned Parenthood health centers. Too many people on Medicaid already live in contraceptive deserts, but this could leave them with nowhere to go for basic care like contraception, STI testing and treatment, pap smears and breast cancer screenings.
- Effectively implements a marketplace-wide ban on abortion coverage in ACA health plans, making it even harder for people to access abortion care when their health plan can’t cover it.
- Institute Medicaid work requirements, eligibility checks, and other red tape that results in working people who qualify being kicked off coverage anyway. Work requirements have been shown to be ineffective and fiscally wasteful in states that have instituted them. Most adults on Medicaid are already working; those who aren’t are either disabled or are parents of dependent children.
- Ban Medicaid from covering gender-affirming care. Research is clear that withholding gender-affirming care can result in physical and mental harm to people who rely on that care.
Medicaid plays a pivotal role in providing health care for millions, including contraception. Two-thirds of adult women on Medicaid are in their reproductive years. 1 in 3 women have gone to Planned Parenthood for care. Sixty-four percent of Planned Parenthood health centers are located in medically underserved areas, rural areas, or areas with health professional shortages.
Red tape, banning coverage of abortion and gender-affirming care, and blocking people on Medicaid from getting care at Planned Parenthood will only kick people out of the program, eliminate places they can go for care, and harm the health of millions. Tell your Senators to protect Medicaid and reproductive well-being in reconciliation by opposing this bill!!