Thousands of Veterans and Their Families Would Lose Insurance Under the AHCA

Will Fischer, an Iraq war veteran, isn't too fond of the current House Republican plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.

“When we see rollbacks like this, I don’t see how anyone can think that’s a positive thing,” says Fischer, the head of government relations at VoteVets, a progressive veterans organization. “We want to ensure that people don’t have to make a choice between buying their child lunch and buying their child medicine.”

The rollback Fischer is referring to is the possible repeal of the Affordable Care Act, and a nod to President Donald Trump's promise to "get our veterans the care they need wherever and whenever they need it." Trump has vowed to cut wait times at the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) and increase the number of mental health professionals available.


But the GOP's recently released American Health Care Act—which the president supports—would put many vets at risk of losing access to the care they need.

Hundreds of thousands of veterans and their family members have gained coverage under Obamacare, or the ACA, according to research from the Urban Institute, a socioeconomic think tank. In fact, a study published by the Urban Institute last fall reported that the rate of uninsured veterans dropped by 42% between 2013 and 2015. That increased coverage has translated into fewer vets reporting that they can't afford their hospital bills or have an unmet medical need, says Jennifer Haley, a research associate at the Urban Institute and one of the authors of the report.

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https://time.com/money/4699647/gop-health-care-plan-veterans/?xid=frommoney_soc_socialflow_twitter_money