Benefits of the Affordable Care Act Highlighted at Kentucky Field Hearing Despite Intense GOP Sabotage Efforts
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Despite a failing effort to repeal and discredit the nation’s health reform law, the Affordable Care Act is already helping Kentuckians and millions of Americans to afford health care, and promises to be a game-changer for working families with a preexisting health condition who are shut out from quality and affordable insurance today, members of the Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions in Lexington, Ky. learned today.
“Across the country, the ACA is putting consumers back in charge of their health care. For the first time in our history, insurance companies can’t say no if you have a preexisting condition like diabetes, cancer, or heart disease. Your medical history is your business alone,” said Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY) at today’s field hearing. “Health care affects everyone differently, which makes health care policy difficult to explain and easy to spin. But after 40 failed attempts to repeal, undermine, or defund the Affordable Care Act, I think we owe it to our constituents to acknowledge that this is the law, and its implementation is ongoing and inevitable.”
Starting in January, Americans will for the first time have access to quality and affordable health insurance regardless of their personal economic or health condition. In additon, the use of a preexisting health condition to deny insurance or charge such individuals more will be banned. This practice has shut out millions of Americans who may have a health condition from insurance coverage, subjecting them to high costs and potential bankruptcy.
"It has been 17 years since I first beat breast cancer, and yet I still can’t find an insurance company that will sell me a policy. But because of the Affordable Care Act, that will never again prevent me or the millions of women like me across our country from getting the coverage and care we need," said Debbie Basham, president of the Southwest Breast Cancer Awareness Group of Louisville, Kentucky who testified at today’s hearing.
Beginning in October, Americans without health insurance will be able to shop for quality and affordable private insurance in their state’s insurance marketplace with the help of an instant tax credit, depending on the individual’s income.
“We are very excited about the possibility for dramatic improvements in Kentucky’s health indicators that could result from the changing landscape of health care in the Commonwealth and our nation,” said Carrie Banahan, the executive director of Kentucky’s Health Benefit Exchange known as kynect. “Individuals without insurance are more likely to skip regular checkups, go without prescription medicines and delay doctor visits until serious problems develop. As a result, they are more likely to seek treatment in an emergency room, when their problems are more advanced and treatment is more difficult and more costly.”
Provisions in the landmark healthcare bill are providing protections from harmful healthcare industry practices. So far, the law has:
- Saved 72,000 Kentucky seniors $112 million on drugs by closing the prescription drug donut hole;
- Enabled 48,000 additional young adults to get coverage through their parents’ health insurance plan;
- Provided critical preventive care for 650,000 women and 486,000 seniors and people with disabilities;
- Provided $15 million in rebates from insurance companies to a quarter of a million Kentuckians.
Today’s hearing marks the latest in Congressional Republicans’ ongoing effort to spread misinformation in order to undermine the ACA, otherwise known as ObamaCare. Since the start of the 112th Congress, the Republican House majority has attempted to repeal all or part of the ACA more than 40 times, most recently on August 2nd of this year. The majority’s enthusiasm for repealing the law persists despite all the benefits it has already brought millions of Americans. For example, as a result of ObamaCare:
- Millions more young adults are now getting health insurance through their parents’ plans.
- Children with a preexisting condition can no longer be denied health coverage or a live-saving treatment.
- Billions more in taxpayer dollars are being recovered in Medicare fraud.
- National health costs have dramatically slowed the last few years.
- Health premiums as part of state insurance exchanges are coming in dramatically lower than predicted.
- And in January, the use of a preexisting condition to determine health coverage or costs will be banned.
For more on how the health reform law is helping and will continue to help Americans, visit www.healthcare.gov.
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