Why Your Healthcare Depends on Your Vote

Buckeye State Rural has recently raised new billboards that say “VOTE DEMOCRATIC – Your healthcare depends on it.”

Let’s talk about WHY THAT’S TRUE.

While the Affordable Care Act is still the “law of the land,” that does not mean you are secure in your access to healthcare. Unable to overturn the ACA, the Republican administration and Congress have systematically taken steps to weaken your protections both now and in the future.

When you vote this November you should know how your candidate has voted on the changes to the existing healthcare law.

Your health and your healthcare depend on it.

The current Republican administration is sabotaging the Affordable Care Act.

Although substantial progress has been made in insuring Americans since the advent of the ACA, the Republican administration is working to sabotage Americans’ access to quality health care.

How?

1. By allowing the sale of “short term policies”—which would better be called “very low quality health insurance plans.” These policies do not have to cover preexisting conditions (diabetes, high blood pressure, depression, heart problems, or cancer, to name a few). They do not have to cover essential health benefits such as outpatient care (going to the doctor), emergency care, hospitalization, prescription drugs, mental health services, and maternity care. What kind of a policy is that? (Even the “short term” has been changed to render the concept a joke—with the maximum number of days of what should be interim policies being increased to 364 days, extendable three times.)
2. By pushing for” association health plans” (plans for trade associations and business groups ). These plans have existed for decades but are prone to bankruptcy and insolvency. Rules put in place to prevent this have been loosened by the current Department of Labor. These plans will siphon off millions of young, healthy people, thereby defeating the very model of insurance, which is the pooling of large numbers of people, healthy and sick , young and old, so that no one is unduly burdened without outrageous costs.
3. By purposefully making signing up for the ACA harder. Funding has been slashed for outreach and advertising, the sign up period has been cut in half from 12 weeks to 6 weeks, and the website is being taken down for one half day during the very popular weekend sign up period.

Yes, your healthcare does depend on the rules eliminated or put in place in Washington, D.C. Who among us does not have a family member or loved one with a preexisting condition, or who does not need to access outpatient care or hospitalization?

According to the Department of Health and Human Services, 50–129 million non-elderly Americans have some type of preexisting condition. Must a person struggling with addiction be denied mental health care? Women are especially vulnerable to these proposed changes as services such as maternity care, contraception, mammograms, cervical cancer screenings, and domestic violence screenings would not be covered.

Finally, premiums on ACA plans are expected to rise due to elimination, next year, of the individual mandate—the tax imposed on those who don’t sign up.

District 15’s current representative, Steve Stivers, has bragged about voting 50 times against the Affordable Care Act (see https://stivers.house.gov/issues/healthcare/).

Before you vote in November, make sure you know where your candidate, and your candidate’s party, stand.

Your healthcare depends on it!