Health reform under attack
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Before the ink dried on the Affordable Care Act, opponents launched a politically motivated campaign to undermine the new health care law, including filing federal lawsuits in Florida and Virginia challenging it. Last week, a judge permitted the Florida lawsuit to go to trial. Yesterday, a judge in Virginia said he would rule by the end of the year on the constitutionality of the law.
Obstructing major social laws is not a new strategy. It happened with the Social Security Act in the 1930s, with the Civil Rights Act in the 1960s, and now it's happening with the Affordable Care Act. As with Social Security and civil rights, these challenges eventually will fail. Indeed, a federal court in Michigan has already dismissed a similar suit. Legal scholars across the ideological spectrum say the Affordable Care Act is on solid constitutional ground.
But while the lawsuits are proceeding, we risk losing focus on what's really at stake. If we undo the Affordable Care Act, we'll be returning to a country where people with pre-existing conditions can't get health insurance coverage. Where insurance companies can take back your coverage when you get sick. Where small businesses can't afford to cover their employees. Is that what opponents of the Affordable Care Act want? Because that's what we'll get if they succeed.
Here are some examples of what's at stake for Pennsylvania.
Under the Affordable Care Act, 2,319,000 Pennsylvanians with pre-existing conditions will be protected from insurance company discrimination. That's 22.9 percent of state residents below the age of 65. Within a few years, insurance companies will no longer be able to deny coverage or charge exorbitant premiums if you get sick. Protection for children began this year. But if opponents have their way, these protections will be lost.
Under the Affordable Care Act, Pennsylvanians with private insurance now have new protections that stop insurance companies from canceling their policies and refusing to pay for treatment when they get sick. Undo the new law and we're back to letting insurance companies run the show.
Under the Affordable Care Act, 160,700 Pennsylvania small businesses are eligible for new tax credits to help them pay for insurance coverage for their workers. Within a few years, small businesses will be able to come together in a new marketplace for insurance to obtain lower premiums. If the law is undone, these small businesses will lose critical bargaining power.
Under the Affordable Care Act, 1,007,800 Pennsylvanians will, within a few years, be eligible for substantial tax credits, enabling them to afford the health care coverage they need. To leave them uninsured is both cruel and short-sighted.
We don't want to go back to a country where getting sick means you could lose everything. The Affordable Care Act is not perfect. But it is the most significant improvement ever made to promote health security in our country. The state attorneys general and their supporters who have brought these lawsuits are trying to take away what Americans have just gained. They need to understand that America is not a backwards-thinking nation.
First Published October 19, 2010 12:00 am
