Dear OLE Health community,
As the healthcare debate in Washington DC and around the country continues, we’d like to update you regarding the latest developments on the legislation being proposed to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) as it moves through the United States Senate.
What’s happening with Health Care?
First we’d like to give you a brief background as to why this is so important to health centers like OLE Health and our community.
When the Affordable Health Care Act was passed in 2010, its purpose was to enroll as many Americans in health care insurance as possible, which would in theory help bring down the costs for all Americans to purchase health care insurance. Americans who could not afford health insurance were given subsidies to purchase insurance through different means including the expansion of Medicaid (The government’s national health care program for low-income Americans.)
This expansion, including many other important changes to the way insurance companies can operate (like no longer denying people coverage for pre-existing conditions) provided health centers like OLE Health with the opportunity to enroll more patients in public insurance (Medi-Cal, California’s version of Medicaid) and the ability to take advantage of financial incentives from the federal government to continue expanding and growing our services.
After the election, the White House set out to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, citing high-premiums to consumers, and overregulation of the insurance markets.
Many citizens, health organizations and advocates found this new approach to repeal Obamacare insensitive to the needs of the most vulnerable communities in this country, as well as raising questions about people losing the insurance they’ve acquired during the onset of the Affordable Care Act, including patients just like those who have enrolled in Medi-Cal here at OLE Health.
Since January of this year, the Republican Party has been working on repealing Obamacare by drafting a new health care bill called the American Health Care Act, which has been highly criticized by legislators on both sides of the aisle for not doing enough to protect the most vulnerable Americans, while giving tax breaks to the most wealthiest Americans.
Here are some of the important proposed changes to health care listed in the American Health Care Act bill (via Politico):
Pre-existing conditions: The plan would keep the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) requirement that insurers accept everyone and charge the same rates, with few exceptions. But it would allow states to waive other insurance requirements, including rules for what benefits insurers must cover, that could weaken protections, including those suffering from mental health issues and emergency services for patients.
Insurance tax credits: Obamacare’s premium subsidies, or tax credits, which are available to people between the poverty level and four times that threshold, would be continued for two years. Eligibility would then be scaled back slightly to 350 percent of the federal poverty level and extended to more low-income people who don’t qualify for Medicaid.
Medicaid expansion: Boosted federal payments to states that expanded their programs to low-income adults would continue for three years. Starting in 2021, enhanced federal payments would then be rolled back over three years to traditional Medicaid funding rates. Thirty-one states and Washington, D.C., have expanded their Medicaid programs under Obamacare.
Taxes: The bill would eventually repeal most of Obamacare’s taxes, including the surtax on high earners investment income and a Medicare Hospital Insurance surtax on the rich. It would also end some industry taxes, such as those on medical devices and health insurers.
Abortion: Subsidies could no longer be used to purchase health plans that cover abortion. Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood would be cut off for one year.
What can I do to help protect the most vulnerable in my community?
Call your legislator RIGHT NOW, it takes 3 minutes! Then, ask your friends/family to call their legislator as well! It has worked before and will work again. You can even leave a message if you’d prefer.
Find out who your congressperson is by typing your address in this link: http://www.house.gov/htbin/findrep
Once you’ve found out who your congressperson is, call the number listed on their profile, and let them know that you are calling to show your support for Obamacare/ACA. They might ask you for your name and address to confirm that you live in the district.
Here is a short script of what you can say, just read it directly when you speak to their offices or when you leave a message:
“Hello, I am a constituent of (Congressperson’s Name), and I am calling to show my support for the Affordable Care Act. I want to let (Congressperson’s Name) know that protecting the health of all Americans is important to me and that the American Health Care Act is not the solution we need. As a constituent of his/her district, I am against taking away access to healthcare for our most vulnerable communities, Thank you.”
And you’re done! Please share this message with family and friends you have across the state so that they may take action as well.
If you have any questions about OLE Health’s efforts to protect Healthcare for our community, please contact info@olehealth.org
