Samuel Molina: GOP’s healthcare plan will deprive young people of many important services
The Senate’s plans to slash healthcare spending with the Better Care Reconciliation Act is supposed to make health care more affordable, but it will do the exact opposite. These cuts will strip many 16- to 34-year-olds, especially Latinos, of services they need and deserve. Requiring most health insurance plans to cover preventive services without cost sharing, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) makes many services more accessible to young people at no additional cost – including screenings, contraceptive care, pregnancy-related care, and HPV immunizations, to name a few.
Today, according to Generation Progress, more than 70 percent of minimum-wage workers are millennials between the ages of 16 and 34. Even as the national unemployment rate gradually returns to pre-recession levels, youth unemployment rates are high – especially for Millennials of color. Millennials are trying to create better futures for themselves as students, parents and employees. Not having access to health care is a major obstacle.
Our lawmakers should get to work making the Affordable Care Act more efficient rather than cutting benefits so the wealthy few can get a tax break.
Samuel Molina, California State Director, Mi Familia Vota, Fresno
This story was originally published July 10, 2017 at 5:44 PM with the headline "Samuel Molina: GOP’s healthcare plan will deprive young people of many important services."