Fight for the Affordable Care Act must continue
We all are in the middle of a serious pandemic. We need every tool in our toolbox to make sure Floridians stay healthy and can afford the care they need. Yet Donald Trump is still recklessly pushing to eliminate an essential tool to deal with this health care crisis: the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
This week marks not only the 10-year anniversary of Barack Obama signing the ACA into law, but also marks one year since Trump decided to back the lawsuit to repeal this legislation. On Sunday, Trump defended that decision during a press briefing. In the midst of a pandemic, Trump is still trying to rip away protections from at least 3.5 million Floridians with pre-existing conditions who are currently safeguarded against discrimination.
The ACA allows us to care for people in this crisis, from requiring health care plans cover “essential health benefits,” to increasing Centers for Disease Control (CDC) funding, to requiring that plans cover all vaccinations recommended by the CDC.
Trump himself, the man leading the charge to eliminate the ACA, has even relied on its provisions to fight the spread of coronavirus. Most importantly, he has said coronavirus testing should be an “essential benefit,” calling on health insurers to make it free for patients. We know testing is critical to slowing the spread of this virus and it absolutely must be free for patients.
Though we still have a lot of work to do to lower health care costs and ensure everyone has access to care, the ACA was a mammoth first step in giving quality, affordable health care to millions of Americans.
When the ACA passed, it helped people right away. It gave tax breaks to small companies to help them cover the cost of employee health care. It protected people with pre-existing conditions. It enabled young people to remain on their parents’ health insurance until age 26. It banned lifetime limits for how much care someone can receive. It required free preventive care.
Under normal circumstances, those are important provisions. Under the threat of coronavirus, they are essential.
If Trump succeeds in his lawsuit against the ACA, he has absolutely no plan for the 1.9 million Floridians who get their health insurance on the ACA exchange. Last year Florida had the highest rate of ACA enrollment out of any state in the country. The Urban Institute estimated that the number of uninsured people in our state would increase by 67% if Trump succeeds in overturning the ACA.
Trump has been incompetent on health care since he took office, but his failure to prepare for coronavirus, despite early warnings, is his worst lapse in judgment. Instead of listening to the experts, his strategy was to deny, delay, and distort the truth.
Two weeks ago Trump played golf and fundraised for his re-election at Mar-aLago instead of spending his time preparing us for a crisis he was warned about back in January. While Trump is finally taking steps in the right direction, he is still playing catch-up as coronavirus spreads.
It doesn’t have to be like this. We deserve more than a president who buries his head in the sand when faced with a serious crisis.