Chattanooga Women on Why They Are Marching to Protect Health Care for Women and Families

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
1-19-17
Contact: Kelley Elliott
Email: kelliott333@gmail.com
Phone: 423.580.3163

Women of the Women’s March Call on Senators Alexander and Corker to Stop Their Rush to Rip Away Key Affordable Care Act Provisions Benefiting the Wellbeing of Families & Women  

Women with the National Alliance for Health Care Security discussed with women and moms how Senators Alexander and Corker’s rushed repeal of the Affordable Care Act affects families and women.

(CHATTANOOGA, TN) — Chattanooga women gathered at Wildflower Tea Shop & Apothecary on Market Street to share why they are participating in the Women’s March and to respond to Senators Alexander and Corker’s rushed repeal of the Affordable Care Act without a replacement, a move that would leave millions without health care and rip away key protections and benefits of the ACA for women which include:

• A ban on defining pregnancy as a pre-existing condition
• A ban on insurance companies’ gender discrimination or charging women more than men
• Increased access to free preventive care like mammograms and cancer screenings
• Free birth control
• Free annual well-checks for prenatal care and other life-saving preventive care
• Maternity care
• Screening and counseling for victims of domestic violence

Ann Richey, a nurse from Signal Mountain, said,

“I’ve seen the affects of cancer at tearing apart families and leaving behind young children. Senator Alexander, we can’t afford rip access to health care away from families struggling through cancer by repealing the Affordable Care Act and not replacing it and its ban on insurance companies charging more and denying coverage to people with pre-existing conditions”

April Cook, a retired nurse from Lookout Mountain, TN said,

“my insurance has improved since passage of the Affordable Care Act. I benefited from the ACA’s removal of lifetime caps.  I wondered at one point when I was having a $12,000 surgery here and there if I would exceed the cap. If you have conditions it can add up in no time. Senator Alexander, don’t take health care from people like me by repealing the Affordable Care Act without protecting the ban on insurance companies putting caps on coverage.”

Ashley Saturday, a service industry worker said,

“I benefit from mental health parity. Women’s preventive services. Free birth control. Paying the same for insurance as men, because ‘being a woman’ used to be a pre-existing condition.”

Chris Tanis added,

“what I’m most concerned about is we have not seen a plan, so we can’t even understand what’s coming our way. What is being promised just doesn’t seem possible.”

Annie Hall is marching in Chattanooga because

“we can’t go backwards in this country. Women should not be treated as second-class citizens when it comes to healthcare.”

A Healthy Tennessee Coalition
A Healthy Tennessee Coalition is a grassroots community organization of volunteers and advocates committed to protecting and advocating for public health.

The Alliance for Healthcare Security
The Alliance for Healthcare Security is a coalition of partners working to save the Affordable Care Act, and currently includes 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, Alliance for Retired Americans, American Medical Student Association, American Medical Women’s Association, Center for Medicare Advocacy, Inc., Community Catalyst, Doctors for America, Families USA, Medicare Rights Center, National Medical Association, National Partnership for Women and Families, National Physicians Alliance, Network for Patient Advocacy, Physicians for a National Health Program, Service Employees International Union, National Committee to Preserve Social Security, and the United Spinal Association.

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