Will The Next Healthcare Bill Be Good For Parents?

The U.S. House was all set to vote on the American Health Care Act (AHCA) Friday afternoon when House Republicans decided to pull it from consideration. This is the second vote delay on the GOP's proposed healthcare bill intended to repeal and replace former President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act. Most of the country opposes the AHCA, so it's no wonder conservative lawmakers are now back at square zero. So will the next Trump healthcare bill be good for parents? Not if it doesn't include requirements for maternity care and preventive services.

According to the Washington Post, the decision to delay the planned vote signals that the Affordable Care Act sticks around. That means parents will still have access to those essential health care benefits, like well-baby visits and breast-pump coverage, that made staying healthy possible for the entire family. It seems, too, that the American Health Care Act is dead in the water — according to The Hill, key Republicans behind the AHCA don't have faith in its future since it couldn't gain enough support to pass. In other words: House Republicans have failed to remotely achieve their seven-year goal of repealing and replacing a historic healthcare bill that saved lives.

Let's say House Republicans do go back to the drawing board, though. There's no reason to believe that the next iteration of the American Health Care Act would be any better that the one that was pulled from the House floor Friday afternoon.

The GOP had made no qualms about its intention to rollback the ACA's provisions requiring insurance companies to cover essential health benefits such as maternity care and preventive services. After all, on Thursday, Kansas Republican Senator Pat Roberts disparaged the need for basic services by mocking mammograms, according to U.S. News & World Report. And on Friday, Mick Mulvaney, director of the Office of Management and Budget, said that parents and parents-to-be should "change the state that you live in" by either lobbying the government or moving to a different state if the state where you live doesn't mandate maternity care, Talking Points Memo reported. Because, you know, all mothers have the power and money to move their entire family to a state with better basic healthcare requirements

The American Health Care Act — a.k.a. Trumpcare — would have in no way helped parents, and conservative lawmakers have in no way indicated that they care. It's unclear if and how the GOP will proceed with the American Health Care Act, but at least millions of parents won't have to worry about losing their access to healthcare.