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| The Uneven Impacts of ACA Repeal on LGBTQ People and Women | ||||||||||||
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On November 10, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in California v. Texas,
the latest in a series of attempts by the Trump administration to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The rush to confirm Judge Amy Coney Barrett—who has a long history of opposing major Supreme Court decisions upholding the law and other critical civil rights protections—has only heightened the risk that the ACA will be dismantled. While Senate Judiciary Chair Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has denied the connection between the confirmation and the repeal attempt, this has been belied by the amoung of time he has spent attacking the ACA during the hearings.
In the end, if the ACA is repealed, coverage for more than 20 million people and the significant benefits and consumer protections that have been gained under the law are at stake. But the dangers are not equal across all of America; some especially vulnerable communities will be disproportionately affected. Last week, for example, the Center for American Progress reported that repeal would deal a crushing blow to Americans with disabilities. This week, CAP is out with new work showing the impact on LGBTQ people and women. The high prevalence of poverty among LGBTQ communities—particularly transgender people and LGBTQ people of color due to transphobia and systemic racism—make the increased coverage and affordability under the ACA essential to support the health and well-being of LGBTQ people. It's the same with the ACA's protections for people with pre-existing conditions: As of 2017, an estimated 65 percent of LGBTQ adults had a preexisting condition compared with 51 percent of U.S. adults overall. But even beyond that, the ACA established and implemented broad-based nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ people, without which all members of the LGBTQ community would lose the opportunity for legal recourse when encountering harmful discriminatory experiences. Learn more » A similar story is unfolding for women. The ACA expanded coverage to millions of uninsured people through financial assistance and public insurance and also improved the quality of existing coverage, including by expanding access to reproductive and maternal health services and by prohibiting discrimination against women and people with preexisting conditions. Compounding the loss of this coverage, the repeal would come at a time when the coronavirus pandemic and resulting economic crisis have already burdened women. For example, unprecedented job losses have resulted in the loss of insurance coverage; barriers to maternal and reproductive health care have been erected; the providers women rely on have been stretched to capacity; and health disparities that have historically burdened Black and Latina women have gotten worse. Learn more » Visit CAP's Courts and the Affordable Care Act page for the latest additions to this growing body of work. | ||||||||||||
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In the Spotlight: Beyond Policing | ||||||||||||
The number of police officers nationwide has ballooned over the past several decades, resulting in modest impacts on crime rates at best. What's more, law enforcement is increasingly called on to respond to a broad swath of issues, which has only swept more and more Americans—particularly Black Americans—into the criminal justice system unnecessarily. Thankfully, the movement to shrink policing is gaining steam, building on years of work from grassroots campaigns and local advocates. Local governments have the opportunity to lay a foundation that takes the country away from policing and toward a holistic approach to public safety. One way to move beyond policing is through investing in Offices of Neighborhood Safety (ONS), as outlined in one of CAP's latest reports. Unlike traditional public safety agencies, an ONS sits outside the justice system and is staffed by civilians. It serves as a hub for nonpunitive public safety solutions, which might include violence interruption, job readiness programs, civilian first responders, transformative mentoring, and more. Read the full report to understand how your city could implement an ONS that is sustainable and effective. Read more » | ||||||||||||
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