The revelation that family members of Republican vice-presidential candidate J.D. Vance used the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to obtain private health insurance is a cautionary tale for all Americans, especially those for whom the ACA is their only refuge for obtaining health insurance.
Vance’s mother had been on Medicaid in Ohio, but when she earned too much money to remain on Medicaid, she was able to access affordable health insurance through the ACA.
Thanks to the ACA, a record 21 million Americans presently are able to obtain private health insurance. The provisions of the ACA also have expanded coverage for an additional 24 million low-income Americans for Medicaid.
But the ACA — which also is known as Obamacare — is a big deal for every American, even for those who are not on an ACA plan, for a number of reasons:
— The ACA requires that ALL health insurance plans in the U.S. must provide coverage for the children of policyholders up to the age of 26, which, as any parent knows, is a huge benefit for their children who either are still in college or who have started a job that may not offer health insurance or does so at a high cost;
— The ACA also requires that ALL health insurance plans in the U.S. must provide free or low-cost birth control to their policyholders, which is a huge benefit for women of all ages and their families;
— Most significantly for individuals, the ACA forbids ALL health insurance plans from either denying coverage, kicking somebody off their plan, or raising the rates for persons with a pre-existing medical condition such as heart disease or cancer. This is especially important for individuals who may try to change their jobs, but who have a health issue, and who would be unable to obtain health insurance without the protections of the ACA.
— In addition, by providing health insurance for all Americans, the ACA helps make America a healthier one, which not only benefits the health of every American both directly and indirectly, but also saves our nation money in the long run.
One of the first things Donald Trump tried to do in his first term in office was to repeal the major provisions of the ACA when the Republicans controlled both the House and Senate after the 2016 election. Fortunately, then-Arizona Senator John McCain, a Republican, gave his famous “thumbs down” on the roll-call, leaving the repeal one vote short by a vote of 51-49 (a deadlocked Senate would have left then-vice president Mike Pence in the position of breaking the tie and killing the ACA).
During his recent debate with Kamala Harris, when Trump was asked about his plans to “replace Obamacare,” Trump said he has the “concept of a plan” (which, as we all know by now, means that he has no plan). However, there is no doubt that if Trump is elected with a GOP-controlled House and Senate, Trump will try once again to kill the ACA.
The fate of the ACA is just one of the things at stake in this election, representing a clear choice between the Democratic and Republican candidates — which is why getting out to vote is more important than ever.