If you are one of the 50 million American with a pre-existing condition, your right to be insured is under attack. The Trump administration is seeking to invalidate the pre-existing condition protections within the Affordable Care Act ( ACA).
27% of adults under age 65 have a pre-existing condition could be uninsurable in the next couple years. In fact, as reported in forbes, before the ACA was passed, a 2010 study showed that 42% of people aged 50-64 had were unable to buy health insurance in the individual market, had to pay much higher premiums, or had their conditions excluded from being covered. The GOP is arguing that the ACA depends on the individual mandate to make premiums affordable, so taking that part of law away invalidates the entire law. It is true that what makes insurance affordable for all is to make sure everyone is covered. The current health care system does not work when insurance companies have to insure people with health problems at an affordable rate if only the sick get coverage. This is why when the GOP voted to take away the mandate to buy healthcare, it was a fiscally irresponsible move that would break the healthcare system instead of fix it. Because of the Tax Cuts and Job Act that eliminated the individual mandate to buy health insurance, insurance plans are set to increase between 15%- 30% in 2019. Worse, it you were counting on savings from the new tax bill to pay for your increased health insurance costs, the tax policy center found that the average American in the coming years will lose their savings from the new bill and and get a tax increase of $30.00. Meanwhile the tax bill adds 1.4 trillion to the national deficit and in 2019 alone, 3 million will become uninsured, raising costs for the remaining people who are insured. We need all our politicians to come together to fix this situation.
Bridges to Empowerment 