FACES TO NUMBERS
With #IAmAPreExistingCondition, Americans Put Faces to 24 Million Who May Lose Health Coverage
Thousands took to Twitter to remind Republican lawmakers just who will lose coverage under the AHCA.
Photo Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast
Yesterday afternoon, the House narrowly pushed through the GOP’s Obamacare repeal bill, the American Health Care Act, or “Trumpcare.” If the bill passes in the Senate, roughly 24 million people could lose health coverage.
While President Trump and the Republicans celebrated with beer, Americans from the top of the hill to the bottom of the map, shared this anger and disapproval at the perceived heartlessness of the GOP. Under the terms of the bill, people with “pre-existing conditions” will face higher premiums and could lose their Obamacare coverage. These conditions include having been pregnant, being a survivor of sexual assault, type one diabetes, mental illness, and many, many more.
The trend #IAmAPreExistingCondition quickly spread across Twitter, as Americans sought to remind their lawmakers just who exactly the bill will affect.
From veterans to healthy HIV patients to survivors of domestic abuse, they shared their personal narratives on the incredible value of healthcare—and anger, too.