EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. – Concerned about the negative effects a proposed federal health care overhaul would have on the most vulnerable, state Rep. LaToya Greenwood, D-East St. Louis, is supporting a resolution that opposes the Republican-introduced American Health Care Act.
“The new health care rewrite Republicans are trying to slam through in Washington would be detrimental to millions of Illinoisans,” Greenwood said. “We cannot turn our backs on the most vulnerable and people that are in most need of affordable health care and that is exactly what the American Health Care Act will do.”
Greenwood is sponsoring House Resolution 445, which notes that the Congressional Budget Office estimates that 24 million people would lose their health care coverage if the Republican proposal is implemented. In addition, the health care plan would dramatically slash Medicaid funding by approximately $880 billion over a period of ten years. In Illinois, such cuts would mean a $40 billion reduction in Medicaid spending over the same period, affecting an estimated one million Illinois residents who currently have coverage.
The Republican health plan would also allow big insurance companies to deny coverage for a pre-existing condition, such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease. Greenwood voted for House Bill 2959 this spring which will prohibit insurers selling policies in Illinois from denying care on the basis of a pre-existing condition, regardless of what politicians in Washington say.
“The federal health care slashes for middle-class and struggling families, all to pad the profits of huge insurance companies,” Greenwood said. “I strongly urge our members of congress and the president his disastrous approach to our health and wellbeing.”