Invest in America
Affordable & Accessible Healthcare for All
THE BIG PICTURE
Health care is a basic human right, not a commodity to be reserved only for those who can afford it. Though the national reform enacted in 2010 is a good first step—ending the worst insurance company abuses, insuring more kids and young adults, lowering drug costs for seniors—much still needs to be done. Instead of being repealed, the Affordable Care Act should be strengthened to cover more people, give them better choices and bring costs down further.
FACT CHECK
- Health care reform will offer coverage to 30 million previously uninsured Americans (but 15 million will still remain uncovered)
- Prior to reform, a Harvard study determined that 45,000 people died each year in America for lack of health insurance
- Reform has already banned insurance companies from denying sick kids coverage and begun to lower seniors’ drug costs
- But even after reform, the U.S. will still provide less (and more expensive) coverage to its citizens than any other wealthy country
GOVERNMENT TAKEOVER? FAR FROM IT
Rather than a government takeover of health care, as conservative critics claim, the Affordable Care Act actually relies too heavily on profit-driven insurance companies. Though now better regulated under reform, the insurance industry--not government—is what stands between doctors and their patients.
STRENGTHEN REFORM, DON’T REPEAL IT
Repeal of health care reform would revive the worst abuses of the insurance industry, deny millions of sick kids health coverage, throw millions of young adults off their parents policies, and raise drug prices on seniors. The Affordable Care Act should instead be strengthened—preferably by transforming into a simple, efficient Medicare-for-all system, but at the very least by offering the option of public health insurance for those who want it.
WORKING FAMILIES WIN IN ACTION
Since the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in March of 2010, Working Families Win has invested much time into educating people across the country about the new health care law and how it will impact individuals and small business owners. WFW has held dozens of educational programs for various constituencies, providing critical information on everything from the law’s impact on senior citizens’ access to prescription drugs to new tax credits small businesses can apply for. Click here to read personal stories from WFW volunteers explaining what the new healthcare law means to them.