--- title: Senate Health Care Bill Could Hurt Black Women description: Find out what Elizabeth Dawes Gay of Black Mamas Matter said about how the health care bill will hurt black women. canonical: https://time.com/4837782/senate-health-care-black-women/ author: Elizabeth Dawes Gay article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-06-29T21:34:47.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T09:05:45.919Z og:title: How the Senate's Health Care Bill Will Seriously Hurt Black Women og:description: 'We know that we need greater access to care, not less' og:url: https://time.com/4837782/senate-health-care-black-women/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt430ed5be5f4a3333/6988d2fa096a942e2169e7c7/tough-pill-swallow-gop-health-care-bill.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: tough-pill-swallow-gop-health-care-bill og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How the Senate's Health Care Bill Will Seriously Hurt Black Women twitter:description: 'We know that we need greater access to care, not less' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt430ed5be5f4a3333/6988d2fa096a942e2169e7c7/tough-pill-swallow-gop-health-care-bill.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How the Senate's Health Care Bill Will Seriously Hurt Black Women by [Elizabeth Dawes Gay](https://time.com/author/elizabeth-dawes-gay/) ## Elizabeth Dawes Gay Jun 29, 2017 9:34 PM UTC  Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., joined by, from left, Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., and Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, meets with reporters following a closed-door strategy session, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, June 20, 2017\. Sen. McConnell says Republicans will have a "discussion draft" of a GOP-only bill scuttling former President Barack Obama's health care law by Thursday. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., joined by, from left, Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., and Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, meets with reporters following a closed-door strategy session, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, June 20, 2017\. Sen. McConnell says Republicans will have a "discussion draft" of a GOP-only bill scuttling former President Barack Obama's health care law by Thursday. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)J. Scott Applewhite—AP by [Elizabeth Dawes Gay](https://time.com/author/elizabeth-dawes-gay/) ## Elizabeth Dawes Gay Jun 29, 2017 9:34 PM UTC Senate Republicans [recently released](http://time.com/4827805/senate-republican-health-care-obamacare-ahca-draft/?iid=sr-link4) a health care bill that the Congressional Budget Office estimates would result in[ 22 million people](http://time.com/4832809/health-care-bill-cbo-score-uninsured/?iid=sr-link2) losing their insurance coverage by 2026, including[ 15 million](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/06/26/us/cbo-score-of-senate-health-care-bill.html) who are insured by Medicaid, which [largely covers](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/23/health/medicaid-basic-facts.html) low-income Americans. Like so many conservative policies, these health care proposals would cause the most harm to America’s most vulnerable — including Black mothers. As an advocate for Black [reproductive](http://time.com/tag/reproductive-health/) and [maternal](http://time.com/4110037/pregnant-mortality-maternal-mortality/) health, and chair of the steering committee of the [Black Mamas Matter Alliance](http://blackmamasmatter.org/), I am especially concerned about how Republican efforts to “fix health care” will worsen health outcomes for Black women, one of the United States’ [most vulnerable populations](https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/race/reports/2013/11/07/79165/fact-sheet-the-state-of-african-american-women-in-the-united-states/). The new[ Status of Black Women in the United States](https://iwpr.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/SOBW%5Freport2017%5Fcompressed.pdf) report shows that despite our civic engagement and voter turnout, Black women continue to be underpaid, over-imprisoned, live in poverty and are in poorer health than their white counterparts. And Black moms are[ three times more likely](https://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/maternalinfanthealth/pmss.html) than white moms to die from pregnancy-related causes and are also at [greater risk](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17320785) of pregnancy-related injury and death. We know that we need greater access to care, not less. Despite the fact that [millions gained health insurance](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/10/29/upshot/obamacare-who-was-helped-most.html) coverage under Obamacare, more Black people than white people [remained uninsured](http://www.kff.org/report-section/key-facts-on-health-and-health-care-by-race-and-ethnicity-section-4-health-coverage/) and continued to rely on Medicaid. And paying out of pocket for[ overpriced](https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/03/why-is-american-health-care-so-ridiculously-expensive/274425/) American health care is just impossible for many. Nearly 1 in 4 Black women in the United States [are living in poverty](https://nwlc.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Poverty-State-by-State-2016.pdf), compared to nearly 1 in 10 white women. When considering insurance status and the fact that Black women bear a [disproportionate burden of poverty](http://www.ncbcp.org/news/releases/5Black%5FWomen%5Fin%5Fthe%5FUS%5F2016.pdf), we know that the Senate healthcare bill would make accessing health care more difficult. But conservative attacks on our health don’t end there. Both the Senate and House health care bills [appear to offer loopholes](http://time.com/4829380/health-care-bill-senate-women/?iid=sr-link1) to[ allow states to drop coverage](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/27/trump-healthcare-bill-pregnant-women-maternity-coverage) for [Essential Health Benefits](https://www.healthcare.gov/glossary/essential-health-benefits/), like [maternity care](https://www.healthcare.gov/coverage/what-marketplace-plans-cover/), to keep costs to insurance companies down. It’s more expensive to give birth in the United States than [anywhere else in the world](http://www.bbc.com/news/business-31052665) — and those most affected by health insurance changes are those least likely to be able to afford to pay for their labor and delivery out of pocket. The[ average cost](http://transform.childbirthconnection.org/resources/datacenter/chargeschart/) for an uncomplicated vaginal birth was just over $10,000 in 2011\. A cesarean birth where a mom has complications [cost upwards of $20,000](http://transform.childbirthconnection.org/resources/datacenter/chargeschart/). And no one can know how their birth will go — especially Black moms who are at [greater risk of negative health outcomes during childbirth.](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4637167/) Privileging insurance companies over American moms and families is not going to make America great again. Indeed, the [tax cuts for the wealthiest in the health care bill](http://money.cnn.com/2017/06/26/news/economy/senate-health-care-bill-rich/index.html) will only serve to make the rich richer at the expense of everyone else. Obamacare wasn’t perfect, but it was a big step in the right direction. Despite the [gains in health insurance coverage overall](https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/obamacare-has-increased-insurance-coverage-everywhere/) and the requirements that insurers cover essential health care like [contraception](https://www.healthcare.gov/coverage/birth-control-benefits/) and [maternity care](https://www.healthcare.gov/what-if-im-pregnant-or-plan-to-get-pregnant/), select populations, including undocumented immigrants and minorities in counties where [Medicaid wasn’t expanded](http://www.kff.org/uninsured/issue-brief/the-coverage-gap-uninsured-poor-adults-in-states-that-do-not-expand-medicaid/), were still [left without access](https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/18/health/immigrants-the-poor-and-minorities-gain-sharply-under-health-act.html) to health care. But the current House and Senate health care bills will move us backward by drastically reducing coverage and make affordable health care a thing of the past. Fortunately, there are advocates and policymakers who are fighting to make a difference. Earlier in June, the Black Mamas Matter Alliance, the Congressional Black Caucus, and the [Congressional Caucus on Black Women & Girls](https://watsoncoleman.house.gov/cbwgcaucus/) co-sponsored a [congressional briefing](https://www.facebook.com/events/927494684057424/?acontext=%7B%22ref%22%3A%223%22%2C%22ref%5Fnewsfeed%5Fstory%5Ftype%22%3A%22regular%22%2C%22action%5Fhistory%22%3A%22null%22%7D) on Black maternal health. Rep. [Bonnie Watson Coleman](https://watsoncoleman.house.gov/) of New Jersey, Rep. [Robin Kelly](https://robinkelly.house.gov/) of Illinois and Rep. [Yvette D. Clarke](https://clarke.house.gov/) of New York each discussed the need for policy action to improve Black maternal health. These women, and many like them, are hard at work on the Hill to ensure policy works in the best interest of people — not insurance companies — and that it does good instead of harm. Millions of Americans, including Black moms and babies, are counting on politicians to do the right thing. Now is the time to expand health care, not snatch it from those who desperately need it. [_Elizabeth Dawes Gay_](https://elizabethdawesgay.com/)_, MPH is a health and social justice advocate based in Washington, D.C. and chair of the steering committee of the Black Mamas Matter Alliance. Follow her on Twitter @edawesgay. Visit_ [_blackmamasmatter.org_](http://blackmamasmatter.org/) _to learn more and follow @_[_BlkMamasMatter_](https://twitter.com/BlkMamasMatter) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4837782/senate-health-care-black-women/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4837782/senate-health-care-black-women/"},"headline":"How the Senate's Health Care Bill Will Seriously Hurt Black Women","datePublished":"2017-06-29T21:34:47.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:05:45.919Z","description":"'We know that we need greater access to care, not less'","url":"https://time.com/4837782/senate-health-care-black-women/","keywords":["motto","women"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt430ed5be5f4a3333/6988d2fa096a942e2169e7c7/tough-pill-swallow-gop-health-care-bill.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Elizabeth Dawes Gay","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/elizabeth-dawes-gay/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt430ed5be5f4a3333/6988d2fa096a942e2169e7c7/tough-pill-swallow-gop-health-care-bill.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"tough-pill-swallow-gop-health-care-bill","caption":"tough-pill-swallow-gop-health-care-bill","creditText":"J. 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