Today, House Republicans voted for the 33rd time to repeal the Affordable Care Act. It is stunning that Republicans have voted nearly three dozen times to take away life-saving health care from America's families -- heath care that is being used right now by millions in our communities.
While today's vote is purely symbolic because Democrats in the Senate will stop it, the American people deserve to know what is specifically at stake for them and their loved ones if the Republicans get their way.
If the health care law were to be repealed, we would go back to the dangerous system we had with people kicked off their insurance when they got sick and families driven into poverty by soaring premiums and health care costs.
More than 6 million young adults would no longer be guaranteed that they can stay on their parent's plan until they are 26. Why would anyone want to repeal that?
At least 54 million Americans with private insurance who are now guaranteed access to free preventive services under health care reform could lose access to free mammograms, vaccines and other life-saving health care.
Five million seniors across the country would no longer get help with their prescription drug costs. If the Republicans get their way, many of these seniors will go back to choosing between taking their prescription drugs or eating dinner.
Millions of seniors would also lose access to free preventive services under Medicare. Under the health care law, 32 million Medicare patients get these services for free, including cancer screenings and flu shots.
If the Republicans repeal health care, there are 105 million Americans who will once again face lifetime limits on the care they can get from their health insurance plans.
And how about the millions of children who are now getting coverage even though they have a pre-existing condition? Before this law, too many of them couldn't. So if a child was born with a heart defect, even if it was something that could be treated, they couldn't get insurance. If health reform is repealed, those children could once again be denied coverage.
Repealing health care reform would also de-fund community health care centers across the country. These health centers see patients whether or not they are insured, and charge based on people's ability to pay. They offer critical care in underserved communities where it is needed most.
And these are just some of the benefits of the law that are already in effect today. If Republicans succeed in repealing this law, Americans will also lose the benefits of health care reform that will come into place in 2014.
Americans would lose access to health insurance exchanges, marketplaces which will be set up in 2014 where individuals, families and small businesses can go to shop for quality, affordable health insurance.
Insurance companies will be able to refuse to cover people with pre-existing conditions. Insurers will also be able to charge women more for the same health insurance. In California, insurers in the past have charged women as much as 39 percent more than men for the same coverage.
Repeal will also allow insurers to go on setting arbitrary annual dollar limits on health care benefits that allow them to stop paying for your care when they want.
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney boasts that he will repeal health care reform on his first day in office. So people really need to be reminded which party will hurt them from day one.
We cannot allow Republicans to take us back to a broken health care system that left too many families at risk. We cannot allow them to take away these critical benefits from millions of Americans. It would be devastating for our families -- our seniors, women, children and communities that desperately need quality, affordable care.
Follow Sen. Barbara Boxer on Twitter: www.twitter.com/SenatorBoxer
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Repealing the Affordable Care Act is a Terrible Idea | Debate Club ...
T'ell with "community" (unless it affects my property values).- T'ell wid y'all and what you need, unless there's something real good in it for me too! - All gubmint is eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeevul, unless it's buying stuff for the Army. rounding up those pesky brown aminals pretending they are people (and have rights), or peeking into YOUR pervy bedroom! - I'm solely responsible for my successes, you got crapped on because you aren't as perfect as me. - It's YOUR OWN LAZY fault you got sick, old or injured, doncha know? If you'd all just go away and die Amerika could be strong again! Now go away, or I'mma gonna wrap myself up in this here falg and whack you with my bi ble!
(Too bad it isn't physically painful to think like that, ain't it?)
(too bad thinking like that isn't painful)
those 25 million are already part of the system, have been part of the system, will always be part of the system. no matter what health care system that happens to be. duh.
before obamacare, they were an inefficient and very expensive part of our system that we all ended up paying for.
This is a blatant lie. House Republicans have voted twice to repeal Obamacare.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHGmR8UTi14&feature=g-all-u
Of course I expect nothing less from Boxer than lies.
It would have been nice if congress had read it prior to their rush to passage. It was rammed down our throat by a democratic house and senate.
Yes we need to deal with pre ex, and create uniform policies from state to state, but to legislate mandate and tax without transparency is certainly not a bipartisan approach.
It will lultimately be a disaster and result in huge tax increases(28 included) and needs to be repealed,
Reform doesn't have to be 2000 pages. Address the important issues one at a Tim and solve them.
Reform doesn't have to have mandated taxes.
Obama promised transparency and openness in his administration, and it is the lack thereof and passing without knowing what it contained that has led to the passionate disapproval of the majority.
NO ONE (except maybe insurnance companies) wanted to continue the existing system of political patronage to get lucrative state licenses and sweet terms of service from State legislatures.
Now we have just transferred that monopolistic system to the Federal legistlature (Congress).
Big Insurance (and big Pharma and Big Med) are still going to hold sway, in fact they have fewer people to 'influence' under PPACA.
I think it is quite odd that we're now saying a 25 year old is to be treated like a little child. If the recipient is a college student great they can stay on their parents plan but if they have decided to step out into the real world . . . it's time to grow up an break from mommy & daddy.
Or we could act like a country of civilized people and insist on policies that benefit the country, not the few.