[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 1]
[House]
[Page 326]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                IMPACT OF ACA REPEAL ON MOMS AND BABIES

  (Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute.)
  Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD. Mr. Speaker, as co-chair of the Maternity Care 
Caucus, I rise on behalf of mothers and babies who will suffer if 
Republicans repeal the Affordable Care Act.
  It is undisputable that, with prenatal care, babies are born 
healthier. Before the ACA, approximately 10 percent of childbearing 
women had no health insurance, and the plans of 60 percent of all 
insured women had no maternity coverage.
  With ObamaCare's Medicaid expansion and insurance subsidies, more 
than half of these women who were uninsured became eligible for 
maternity care. In addition, the ACA also requires health plans to 
cover maternity care and preexisting conditions. All of this will be 
lost with ACA repeal.
  Women will also lose coverage for lactation counseling and the cost 
of breast pumps, a known barrier to successful breastfeeding which is 
one of the most effective ways to protect the health of babies.
  I urge my Republican colleagues to consider the negative impacts 
repealing ObamaCare will have on our Nation's mothers and babies. We 
must protect the future health of our children by ensuring all moms 
have access to maternity care and breastfeeding support.

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