Republicans Are Hearing How The Affordable Care Act Benefits People
As momentum continues to build up to the March 31 open enrollment deadline, Republican lawmakers continue to make every effort to dismantle the Affordable Care Act. The House GOP keeps saying they are going to present an alternative, but all they can agree on is repealing the law–which they have now voted to do over 50 times.
Here’s one of the many flaws with that strategy: the law is working. And what’s more, Republican elected officials and candidates for public office are hearing about it from their constituents. Here are a few recent examples:
- Constituent Tells Rep. Paul Ryan About A Friend With Leukemia Whose Out-Of-Pocket Expenses Were Cut In Half. 64-year-old Michael Martincic criticized Ryan’s opposition to the law, telling the story of his friend with Leukemia who will save money thanks to the ACA and his own positive experience checking coverage options on the website. “It was so easy to get on the site; the whole thing took 15 minutes,” Martincic said. Michael and his wife are currently insured through his union, but they are thinking that they might switch to coverage under the ACA after he found out that they could save $500 a month through the exchange.
- New Hampshire GOP State Rep. To Former Sen. Scott Brown: ACA Was A “Financial Lifesaver.” Scott Brown is now taking his anti-Obamacare campaign plan from 2010 in Massachusetts up to the Granite State, but times are different now that the law is in effect. Brown was in the middle of calling the ACA a “monstrosity” at the home of State Rep. Herb Richardson, when his host chimed in to say that it in fact had been a “financial lifesaver” for his family. Previously, Richardson had been injured on the job and forced to live off worker’s comp, paying $1,100 for health care through the federal COBRA law and no longer able to afford his home. Now he and his wife are covered for just $136 per month. “Thank God for Obamacare!” his wife said.
- Health Advocate To Gov. Chris Christie: There Are “Almost 400,000…Who Qualify For Subsidies. We Need To Help Them Connect.” There are a huge number of people who are not aware that financial assistance is available through the ACA. At a town hall meeting Tuesday, health policy advocate Maura Collinsgru called out New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie for failing to help the hundreds of thousands of New Jerseyans eligible for subsidies to connect to the insurance exchange. According to the Star-Ledger, “Collisgru said insurers, hospital systems, advocates and even Christie’s own Medicaid director all agree they must connect people to coverage.” “We’re asking you to join that,” Collinsgru said.
BOTTOM LINE: People are standing up and telling Republican lawmakers their stories about how the Affordable Care Act is working. The question is will they listen or just keep on pursuing their repeal-at-all-costs agenda?