Affordable Care Act rollback will affect care for many
The Affordable Care Act has protected patients for a generation. Republicans want to roll back progress.
The Affordable Care Act turned 14 this year. While we may take its many pro-patient protections for granted today — no more discrimination against people with pre-existing conditions and no price gouging against women, for example — we must remain vigilant against attacks on the ACA.
Here in Michigan, we’re being proactive in ensuring patients continue to have access to affordable health care.
As chair of the Senate Health Policy Committee, I proudly partnered with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Democrats in the state Legislature to pass bills enshrining key provisions of the ACA in Michigan law. Our goal was to protect the health care of millions of Michiganders from any attempts to roll back protections under the ACA. These crucial measures include protecting access to fully covered preventative health care services such as life-saving colorectal, breast and other cancer screenings, heart screenings, vaccines and more. Michigan’s new state laws also:
• Prohibit insurers from denying coverage because of pre-existing conditions.
• Require insurance coverage for dependents under age 26.
• Require insurers to provide coverage for specified services such as hospitalization, pregnancy and emergency services.
• Prohibit insurers from denying coverage based on gender, gender identity or sexual orientation.
• Prohibit instituting annual or lifetime dollar limits.
For a generation, the ACA has helped more Michiganders access quality affordable health care. This landmark law has played a vital role in improving health, saving lives and giving hope to millions of Michigan residents. More than 418,000 Michiganders enrolled for health coverage during the most recent ACA marketplace open enrollment period — a 30% increase over 2023 and the highest enrollment rate in our state’s history.
Despite these important gains in our efforts to help families continue enjoying health coverage, former President Trump and extremist Republicans continue to attack the ACA. Since he first reignited his promise to “terminate” the ACA in November 2023, Trump has publicly threatened to take away Americans’ health care at least seven times.
Michiganders must be vigilant because these are not idle threats. During his first term, Trump weakened and undermined the ACA, made it harder to enroll in affordable coverage, and raised costs for millions of people, leading to lower enrollment and worse protections for those with pre-existing conditions.
Republicans in Congress are not letting up either. The latest Republican budget aims to gut Medicaid and the ACA, which over 100 million Americans rely on for their health care. Republicans’ plans will put insurance companies and drug companies back in charge.
Costs will go up for patients. Insurance corporations will once again deny health care to millions of people. Critical programs that protect health, from outreach programs for older Americans to programs for pregnant women, are at risk of being slashed.
Michiganders of every background — Republicans, Democrats and Independents — must be watchful against these attacks because they aim to take away basic health care protections and hand the keys back to Big Pharma and the insurance industry. All Michiganders deserve access to health care when they need it, not just when they can afford it. And, most of all, we must fight to ensure health care is a right, not a privilege for the residents of our state and all Americans.
Michigan Sen. Kevin Hertel represents Michigan’s 12th Senate District, part of Clinton Township and all of Algonac, Chesterfield Township, Clay Township, Grosse Pointe, Grosse Pointe Farms, Grosse Pointe Park, Grosse Pointe Shores, Grosse Pointe Woods, Harper Woods, Harrison Township, Ira Township, Mount Clemens, New Baltimore, and St. Clair Shores.