Biden Campaign Press Release - ICYMI: Women for Biden Highlight Joe Biden's Commitment to Protecting and Expanding Access to Health Care
Since day one of this campaign, Joe Biden has been focused on Americans' top priority: health care. In the final days of the campaign -- as COVID-19 cases reach record highs across the country and as President Trump tries to get the Supreme Court to strike down the Affordable Care Act -- Women for Biden are highlighting how the Biden-Harris ticket will build the country back better so that all Americans have access to quality, affordable health care.
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will follow the science to beat COVID-19, implementing nationwide mask mandates, ramping up testing and contact tracing, making sure frontline health care workers no longer have to ration personal protective equipment, delivering a safe and effective vaccine equitably and free to every single person, and getting clear guidance and generous support to schools and small businesses, so they can reopen safely and stay open.
They will protect the Affordable Care Act, which has stopped insurance companies for charging someone more because they are a woman, protected 100 million Americans with preexisting conditions, including pregnancy, allowed children to stay on their parents' plans until they were 26, and required insurance companies to require essential benefits like maternity care. They will build on it, allowing Americans to keep their private insurance or choose a Medicare-like public option and lowering costs. And they will also strengthen women's health care by codifying Roe v. Wade, improving maternal health, and expanding access to mental health care.
Last week, Senator Harris joined Women Mobilize for Biden, a virtual rally hosted by Women for Biden and featuring key women leaders, focusing on what is at stake in this election for health care and reproductive rights.
Earlier in October, Women for Biden held a national call featuring Cecile Richards, activist Elena Hung, and a rural nurse in Minnesota. Women for Biden also held a GOTV event and discussion on health care with the cast of Private Practice. Together, these events reached thousands of women with Joe Biden's health care message and mobilized them to take action with the campaign.
Additionally, women across the country are discussing this priority issue and how a Biden-Harris Administration would work to ensure that every American has access to the care they need:
Senator Elizabeth Warren
"President Trump has sent his lawyers to the Supreme Court to do what he and Republicans in Congress couldn't do on their own: overturn the Affordable Care Act and take away health care coverage from tens of millions of Americans. If Trump wins this case, insurance companies will be allowed to deny coverage to, or force higher premiums on, over 100 million people with preexisting conditions, prevent people under 26 from staying on their parents' plan, and charge women more just for being women. This is only the beginning of President Trump's assault on our health care, because the Supreme Court could throw out Roe v. Wade next. I won't sugarcoat it: We can't afford four more years of Donald Trump. That's why it's so important that we elect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris." [Allure, 10/29/20]
Congresswomen Sylvia Garcia, Veronica Escobar, and Debbie Mucarsel-Powell
"This crisis highlights the health disparities we've dealt with for far too long. Instead of addressing these disparities, President Trump is asking the Supreme Court to overturn the Affordable Care Act, ripping away coverage from millions of Latinos and taking away protections for Latinos with pre-existing conditions like diabetes and asthma. Joe Biden will protect and build on the Affordable Care Act, lowering the costs of care and establishing a new public insurance option providing more members of our communities will have access to high-quality, affordable health care. He'll also increase community health centers, diversify the health workforce, and invest in common sense policies like ensuring we have clean air to breath and increasing access to healthy food in Latino neighborhoods -- which will lead to better health care outcomes for our community." [Be Latina, 10/29/20]
Congresswoman Alma Adams
"During the worst public health crisis our nation has ever faced, what is one thing people desperately need? Health care. On the other hand, what are President Trump and the Republicans trying to take away from Americans? Health care. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will bring health care solutions to the White House. Between introducing a public option, lowering the Medicare enrollment age, and increasing competition to lower drug prices, the Biden-Harris ticket offers fixes to many of North Carolinians' most pressing health care woes. They are not ignoring the reality that low-income residents and people of color face worse social determinants of health, systemic disparities, and have unequal access to health care." [The Charlotte Post, 10/26/20]
Padma Lakshmi
"I measure a country's worth by how they treat their women and children—that tells you everything about how our government has failed the American people in the most stunning and holistic way possible. They failed in women's reproductive health. They've failed in health care… At least you know in a Biden-Harris administration, Planned Parenthood would have increased funding. It would be safe." [Glamour, 10/19/20]
Billie Jean King
"We're voting for our country and the health of our country. It's about thinking about the other person, not just yourself. Of course, you have to take care of yourself, but you should always think about your teammates and the other people in this country and the world. And I think if we vote for Joe Biden, the U.S. will take care of more people and will be a better place." [Self, 10/28/20]
Kelley Robinson, Executive Director of Planned Parenthood Action Fund
"The Affordable Care Act was a game-changer for women… Yet the Trump Administration has spent years trying to roll back the Affordable Care Act, which would leave millions of Americans without health care — in the middle of a global pandemic. Imagine what he'll do to our health care if he gets another four years in the White House. Or? We could elect a leader who will protect and build on the Affordable Care Act by adding a new public option, which will ensure every American has access to affordable, quality health care. That's former Vice President Joe Biden. And we could make history by electing the first Black woman vice president in Kamala Harris." [The Young Black and Fabulous, 10/29/20]
Little Lobbyists Founder and Health Care Advocate Elena Hung
"We have the chance to elect leaders who value family and the health of our country. Like me, Joe knows what it is like to be at your child's bedside in the hospital praying that they survive. He knows what it is like to be a caregiver and balance family and work. He knows what it is like to get up every day to fight for those you love, including our loved ones with disabilities. And he will fight for our loved ones like they were his own." [The Fold, 10/13/20]
Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Biden Campaign Press Release - ICYMI: Women for Biden Highlight Joe Biden's Commitment to Protecting and Expanding Access to Health Care Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/347163