Labor & Employment Law

Health Reform Repeal Would Hurt ?Regular Joe Blow,? Not Lawmakers

By Mike Hall

Every October, Anita?s parents fall into the Medicare prescription drug donut hole, and some of their medications cost $30 per pill. The new health care reform law already has begun to close that gap in coverage and eventually will eliminate it all together.

But tomorrow, House Republicans will vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act. These are the same lawmakers who, according to the Congressional Research Service, have their choice of about 300 different taxpayer-funded health care plans that cover hospital, surgical and physician services, mental health services, prescription drugs and ?catastrophic? medical expenses. There are no exclusions for pre-existing conditions.

Anita, from Las Cruces, N.M., says that amounts to a ?two-tier? health care system.

If members of Congress have government-funded insurance, which includes Republicans, then the people should also. Otherwise, we have a two-tier system, one for the regular Joe Blow and the other for the privileged congressional [members] that we elect. NOT FAIR. If the Republicans as a whole want to repeal the health care for the citizens that they represent then their government-sponsored health benefits should also be repealed.

Anita is one of the more than 600 people who has responded to our AFL-CIO online survey, telling us how the Affordable Care Act has helped her and her family. (Click here to share your story and read and comment on others.)

Click here to tell your representative to defend health care reform and oppose repeal of the Affordable Care Act.

The health care reform law allows young adults to remain on their parents? health care plans until they are 26. But that new benefit will vanish if the law is repealed. Irma from Fabens, Texas, says that means her 24-year-old daughter would be without coverage.

Vicki started a master’s program in psychology in 2010 and had limited access to affordable health care because her employers could not offer it to her. Thanks to President Obama’s Health Care Reform package, my daughter was able to access badly needed care from an allergist. Had she not been covered under my husband’s plan (she is 24), she would have had an astronomical emergency room bill?.It is so disheartening to know that the health care that she needs (she now has asthma) will be taken away by rich and influential people who are so far removed from the lives of the average American.

As we reported earlier today, as many as 129 million Americans have pre-existing conditions that, before the Affordable Care Act become law, insurers routinely used to deny coverage or charged excessive premiums. Jeanine, a member of the Communications Workers of America (CWA), writes from California:

I was diagnosed with myeloid leukemia in 2005. I was laid off in 2008 and had no health care. With treatment, which consists of taking by-mouth medication, I live a perfectly normal, active life. Without it, my days are numbered. I could not find coverage for myself due to my ?pre-existing condition.? Ironically, my illness only becomes serious without treatment. If the insurance companies had their way, I would die. Thanks to health care reform, I look forward to a long life of fulfilling work, joyous family life and an active role in society.

Barbara from Wisconsin says the Affordable Care Act?s rule that prohibits health insurance companies from putting a lifetime cap on benefits or dropping coverage when people become sick means her brother can receive care and treatment for a serious head injury.

My brother suffered a head injury that has rendered him disabled. His care brought him very close to the cap on his insurance. The [health care refrom] bill allows him continued coverage because the caps have been lifted.

Click here to tell your representative to defend health care reform and oppose repeal of the Affordable Care Act.

Full post as published by AFL-CIO NOW BLOG on January 18, 2011 (boomark / email).