The Affordable Care Act, ACA, has been written about, talked about, implemented for several years and STILL there are myths and misinformation about it. Its full name was THE PATIENT PROTECTION AND AFFORDABLE CARE ACT. It was designed specifically to protect patients. And now, as Obama leaves office, it is about to be repealed without a replacement ready to take its place. While the Senate commences hearings on the cabinet picks for the new administration, they will simultaneously vote on a filibuster proof budget bill which sets the stage to repeal “Obamacare”. The repeal only bill is likely to eliminate health insurance for 30 million Americans and double the number of uninsured children overnight because without the law to compel them, insurance carriers have no incentive. They can return to 'business as usual' without consequence.
• The law didn't reform health care as much as it reformed health insurance
• Insurance premiums were, for the most part, lowered through exchanges that operated in each state
• The benefits offered were standardized to include more benefits such as mental health and addiction coverage, and so consumers could compare the same services (apples to apples, so to speak)
• There was NEVER coverage for undocumented immigrants
• The ACA was passed without a single Republican vote because they refused to negotiate at any juncture in the 4 years of planning
• Republicans financed no less than 5 major lawsuits challenging ACA all the way to SCOTUS
• Republicans blocked the expansion of Medicaid in states they controlled such as Florida, despite the fact that it cost lives (estimated to be 6000 each year in FL alone for people who died without care unnecessarily)
• Republicans refused to set up exchanges in many states
• Republicans threatened to shut down the government, default on the public debt, if Dems did not kill the health care law
• The ACA helped seniors save money! It changed Medicare so that there were no copays for diagnostic tests like mammograms; it shrunk the Rx 'donut hole' and reduced many drug costs saving seniors an average of $300 a year
• Preventive care and checkups became free to seniors
• It helped rural hospitals in particular and many hospitals in general because there were more 'paying customers' with good insurance
• It outlawed denial of coverage due to any pre-existing conditions
• It allowed young people to stay on their parents' policy until age 26
• It helped fight hunger in America! A provision called Community Health Needs Assessment requirement enabled physicians to document at the local level where the need is greatest and to mobilize the public and private resources to address it. It saved billions of $$$ in healthcare costs simply by making people more food secure
• The subsidies rose as premiums rose so most enrollees did not see huge increases
• Because of the ACA 12.8 million individuals and businesses got back more than $1.1B in rebates in just one year from insurance companies that underspent on medical care
• The appeals process was streamlined to protect patients
• A ban on lifetime limits was imposed on carriers which reduced Americans' need to declare medical bankruptcies
• More efficient, coordinated care was rewarded
• America's uninsured rate fell to the lowest in history: less than 9%
The repeal has the healthcare industry worried. The largest group representing doctors, THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, has appealed to the new Congress not to move so fast. Representing more than a quarter million doctors and more than 190 state and national specialty societies, they are fearful of the chaos that will be created.
The simultaneous defunding of Planned Parenthood will prove lethal, literally, in as many as 20% of the counties in which PP is located and are the SOLE SAFETY NET family planning center. Corey Booker of NJ spoke passionately about this issue on the floor of the Senate. PP centers are in 491 counties. In 2/3 of those locations they serve half or more of all women obtaining contraceptive care.
Healthcare is neither a nameless nor faceless system. It is what our friends, families and neighbors depend on to maintain health and well being. Healthcare is life saving. Under the ACA, more than 20 million Americans got health insurance. Old or young, everyone needs healthcare.
Legislators would do better if guided by a doctor's oath: 'Do no harm'. Contact your legislators: http://www.whoismyrepresentative.com