LWV Statement on Health Care Executive Orders

Today the League of Women Voters of the United States president Dr. Deborah Ann Tuner issued the following statement in response to President Biden’s Executive Orders on Health Care: 

“Today’s health care announcements from the White House demonstrate the new administration’s commitment to quality and affordable health care for all Americans. Opening a special enrollment period will offer health care access to thousands of individuals whose health care has been impacted by COVID-19. The League is encouraged by the priorities of strengthening Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act, as well as protecting women’s health.   

“We know that COVID-19 has had a disproportionate impact on frontline workers who are often people of color and women. This disparity reflects long-standing inequities in access to care, not personal behavior.  In the middle of this deadly global pandemic, it is essential that all persons in America have access to affordable health care, and that no one be denied coverage after contracting COVID-19.  

“The League has long believed that all U.S. residents should have access to affordable, quality health care, including birth control and the freedom to make private reproductive choices. Women and particularly Black women, Indigenous and other people of color, LGBTQ+ people, and those with low incomes have long been denied access to appropriate, quality, nonjudgmental reproductive health care. We commend the new administration for making health care a top priority, especially during the battle against COVID-19.” 

The League of Women Voters sent a memo to the Biden Administration in December outlining the priority areas where we hope to work together, including quality health care for all Americans. Read our list of priorities for the new administration HERE.