What We're Reading: Modifying AHCA; Planned Parenthood Takes on Trump; Obamacare Lessons

Republicans Want Changes to Health Bill

After the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its report on the American Health Care Act (AHCA), the chorus of voices calling for changes grew. According to The Wall Street Journal, the potential loss of insurance coverage and the bill’s impact on older Americans raised enough concerns to offset the fact that AHCA will reduce the deficit. While Republicans and the White House have tried to discredit the report since it was released, Democrats are highlighting that the report validated their concerns.

Planned Parenthood Prepares to Take on Trump

Since Planned Parenthood funds abortions, Republicans are planning to block federal funding to the organization. To fight back, Planned Parenthood is launching a $1 million television and digital ad campaign. Politico reported that ad uses a direct quote from the president, who mentioned that Planned Parenthood helps women with cancer. Cutting funding to the organization would sharply increase births among Medicaid beneficiaries, the CBO report on AHCA found.

Lessons From the Affordable Care Act

President Donald Trump and countless Republicans in Congress all ran on the platform that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was broken, citing high premiums and the falsehood that people could keep their doctors. With Republicans' own bill quickly coming under fire from all sides, Vox has highlighted 5 lessons from the ACA that Republicans are so far ignoring. The lessons include the fact that reform is nearly impossible without bipartisanship and that there will have to be painful trade-offs in healthcare reform.