National Advocacy Organization of People with Psychiatric Histories Urges Congress to Reject Trumpcare

WASHINGTON, March 20, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Coalition for Mental Health Recovery (NCMHR), a national organization comprising statewide organizations of individuals with lived experience of a mental health condition as well as individual members, strongly urges legislators to oppose the American Health Care Act.

"The Congressionally proposed American Health Care Act, also known as Trumpcare, is un-American and would have a disastrous impact on the lives of millions of vulnerable Americans," said Daniel B. Fisher, M.D., Ph.D., a founder and board member of the NCMHR.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has calculated that, if it becomes law, the American Health Care Act will cause 24 million Americans to lose healthcare coverage by 2026. It would cause premiums for single policyholders to increase by 15% to 20% by 2018.

Especially disastrous would be Trumpcare's impact on Medicaid.

"Trumpcare would cause states to lose $370 billion in federal Medicaid funding," Dr. Fisher said. "Furthermore, Trumpcare would remove a requirement that currently exists under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to provide mental health coverage, as well as coverage of substance use disorder treatment. It would be up to the state legislatures to decide whether to include such coverage.

"However, many states would not require insurance coverage of mental health or substance abuse services. This would leave a huge number of people who have mental health and/or substance use issues without affordable services," he said. According to a recent article in The Washington Post, "Nearly 1.3 million people receive treatment for mental-health and substance abuse disorders under the Medicaid expansion."

"We represent millions of persons with mental health conditions who are grateful that the ACA increased the number of people with health care coverage by 22 million Americans. We call on Congress to reject Trumpcare and instead improve upon the ACA, which has already proved indispensable to countless numbers of Americans."

The National Coalition for Mental Health Recovery (NCMHR) works to ensure that individuals with lived experience of a mental health condition have a major voice in the development and implementation of health care, mental health, and social policies at the state and national levels, empowering people to recover and lead a full life in the community.

Contact: Daniel B. Fisher, M.D., Ph.D., [email protected], 877-246-9058

SOURCE National Coalition for Mental Health Recovery

Related Links

https://www.ncmhr.org