Rights Groups Fight To Save Health Care Act

WASHINGTON -  The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights has sent a letter to the House of Representatives opposing proposed legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which the coalition calls "vital to improving the health of our nation’s most underserved communities."

The Leadership Conference believes that access to health care is a basic human right. Yet, people of color represent one third of all Americans and make up half of the uninsured population. And 17 million women in the United States currently have no health insurance.

The letter states: "The ACA recognizes that poor quality of care disproportionately affects certain communities. That is why the law prioritizes closing health disparity gaps. It requires the collection of key demographic data, to ensure that disparities can be identified and the right interventions can be made. It will also increase the diversity and improve the cultural competence of the health care workforce. These changes will improve care and increase access in many medically underserved communities. By addressing these huge disparities in both access to and quality of care, the ACA takes a momentous step toward ensuring that all Americans can benefit from affordable, high quality health care."