WASHINGTON — To mark the 12th anniversary of the Affordable Care Act today, Health Care for America Now Executive Director Margarida Jorge released the following statement:
Twelve years after the Affordable Care Act was passed, a record number of people have benefited from increased coverage, lower premiums and stronger consumer protections from health insurance companies. The law has saved and improved countless lives and survived attack after attack by politicians who are out of touch with average families struggling to keep up with cost and affordability. The ACA and Medicaid have been critical tools to help our country overcome the pandemic and recover faster thanks to relief packages and executive action by President Biden to increase access, streamline enrollment and make insurance more affordable for people of all incomes.
Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, our country is closer than ever to finally realizing the promise of quality, affordable health care everyone can count on. As President Biden has said, health care in the United States of America should be a right for everyone, not just a privilege for the few. But getting to that goal will require Congress to act this year to finish the job.
In the upcoming reconciliation bill in Congress, lawmakers must prioritize closing the Medicaid coverage gap, extending increased premium support for people buying coverage on the ACA exchanges and implementing Medicare negotiations to rein in prescription drug prices. Democrats in the House and Senate have enough votes to pass these measures, which are popular with the public and critical to robust recovery. There has never been a better time to deliver on the longstanding promise of health care for all than right now.
