Washington—Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) today released the following statement highlighting the effect of the Senate Republican health care bill’s elimination of essential health benefits:

“One of the most significant reforms contained in the Affordable Care Act is the guarantee that health plans would cover the care you needed. Before the law was passed, families too often paid premiums for years before discovering that their plans were essentially junk and didn’t cover critical services. The cornerstone of the Republican plan is doing away with that guarantee by allowing states to pick and choose covered services. We won’t go back to those days.”

Essential Health Benefits

• Ambulatory patient services (doctor visits)
• Emergency services
• Hospitalization
• Maternity and newborn care
• Mental health and substance use disorder services, including behavioral health treatment
• Prescription drugs
• Rehabilitative services and devices
• Laboratory services
• Preventive and wellness services and chronic disease management
• Pediatric services, including oral and vision care