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Last updated on Thursday, May 25, 2017
(BLOOMINGTON) - Bloomington Mayor John Hamilton has joined the Cities Thrive Coalition comprised of mayors across the country in asking Congress not to enact the American Health Care Act (AHCA).
It is projected that the AHCA would eliminate health insurance for 24 million people, cut $880 billion from Medicaid, and increase insurance premiums 15-20 percent. This bill also guts mental health care coverage, leaving the one in five Americans suffering from mental health or substance misuse issues at risk.
Mayor Hamilton participates in Wednesday's National Mayors' Mental Health Day of Action, which stresses the critical importance of access to mental health care. Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), mental health coverage is an essential benefit for the first time, and the Cities Thrive Coalition, a bipartisan coalition of 155 of the nation's mayors from all 50 states advocating in support of a stronger, better funded, and more integrated behavioral health system, is calling on Congress to protect this progress.
"The misleadingly named American Health Care Act is an outright attack on access to mental health care for 24 million Americans. If enacted, it will adversely affect every community in this country as we will be forced to scramble to find ways to care for our residents in need of services. Or worse - those residents will not receive needed services. I am proud to join like-minded mayors across the nation in voicing our strong opposition to this poorly conceived legislation," commented Mayor Hamilton.
Mayor Hamilton also has signed onto a Cities Thrive bipartisan letter to Senate leaders urging them to oppose the American Health Care Act (AHCA). Addressed to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, the letter with over 100 signatories cites how the AHCA would be harmful to those struggling from mental health and
substance misuse issues, including:
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