Dignity Health Opposes the American Health Care Act

San Francisco, CA – May 4, 2017 – Dignity Health is committed to preserving access to care, improving the quality and affordability of care, ensuring the necessary resources to deliver on our mission, and protecting the sacred bond between patient and caregiver.  

We are disappointed with the House passage today of the American Health Care Act (AHCA). We support policies that ensure health coverage is available and affordable for all. We are concerned that the AHCA reduces coverage for the nearly 20 million people who access care through the Medicaid expansion and the exchanges. The plan calls for abandoning Medicaid expansion, which, when paired with the significant cuts to the Medicaid program will reduce our ability to provide essential care to those who are vulnerable, especially children, the elderly, and disabled people in the communities we serve. The recent amendments to the AHCA do nothing to alleviate these concerns. In fact, the amendments reduce availability and access to care for patients with pre-existing conditions because states would be able to allow insurance companies to vary rates based on age and health status.

We urge the Senate to develop legislation that provides coverage to those who need it and protects access to care through the Medicaid program.

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About Dignity Health

Dignity Health, one of the nation’s largest health care systems, is a 22-state network of more than 9,000 physicians, 62,000 employees, and 400 care centers, including hospitals, urgent and occupational care, imaging centers, home health, and primary care clinics. Headquartered in San Francisco, Dignity Health is dedicated to providing compassionate, high-quality, and affordable patient-centered care with special attention to the poor and underserved. For more information, please visit our website at www.dignityhealth.org. You can also follow us on Twitter and Facebook.