ACHA Passes the House

On May 4, the AHCA passed the U.S. House of Representatives by a two-vote margin. WSNA Executive Director Judy Huntington, MN, RN issued a statement following the vote condemning the expected loss of coverage for hundreds of thousands of Washington residents and the loss of protections for people with any of the bill’s expansive list of pre-existing conditions.

WSNA Statement On The AHCA Passage

Notably, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers was the only member of Washington’s congressional delegation who voted to pass the AHCA. WSNA joined with ARNPs United and the Inland Empire Nurses Association, which represents Spokane-area nurses, in sending a letter to Rep. McMorris Rodgers expressing disappointment in her support for the AHCA.

Letter to Representative McMorris Rodgers - AHCA

The House passed the AHCA without a score from the Congressional Budget Office, the nonpartisan agency charged with assessing the impact the legislation. It wasn’t until nearly three weeks later, on May 24, that the CBO released its assessment that the AHCA will take health coverage away from 23 million Americans and slash Medicaid by $834 billion to give out $600 billion in tax breaks, mostly to corporations and the wealthy.

The AHCA would take away Medicaid coverage from hundreds of thousands of people in Washington. Further, the radical restructuring of federal support threatens everyone who relies on Medicaid, from children to seniors. The impact on Washington’s state budget, already struggling to fulfill its obligation to fully fund public education, would be significant.

Additionally, the CBO said people in states that take up the AHCA’s option of stripping essential health benefits out of insurance plans and eliminating protections for people with pre-existing conditions would result in higher premiums and out-of-pocket spending, hitting sicker, poorer and older Americans the hardest.

The plan also defunds Planned Parenthood in 2018.