Affordable Care Act

Affordable Care Act: Local Supporters, Opponents Discuss Future of the Legislation

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On Tuesday, the United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments in what's considered the latest chapter to repeal the Affordable Care Act. The U.S. Supreme Court could decide to repeal Obamacare or keep it intact.

The piece of legislation started under President Barak Obama's administration in an effort to provide low-cost health care. One of the people advocating for the ACA is Connecticut Attorney General William Tong.

"People need access to health care period and the affordable health care is a lifeline to hundreds of thousands of people in Connecticut," said Attorney General Tong. "If the Affordable Care Act goes away there's no plan for the almost 300,00 people who benefit from the Medicaid expansion."

According to the Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut, there's a lot at stake, should the U.S. Supreme Court decide to repeal the ACA.

  • More than 200,000 Connecticut residents could lose their Husky of Medicaid coverage
  • At least 70,000 would lose their subsidies to afford insurance
  • Those with preexisting conditions would lose their protections

Opponents of the law say that it's not equitable for everyone.

"The only thing Republicans and Democrats agree is on protecting preexisting conditions because the Affordable Care Act is anything but affordable," said J.R. Romano, chairman with Connecticut's G.O.P. "If you do not qualify for government subsidies, a family of 4 could pay upwards of $1,200 to $1,400 a month with high deductibles and it will crush middle-class families with small businesses."

Frances Padilla is the president of the Universal Health Care Foundation of CT ,which has a goal of informing communities about the Affordable Health Care.

"We need to streamline an equitable health care system and access to coverage that benefits us all," said Padilla. "I think it's important that we address the fact that we have a health system that costs too much money and it cost too much even before the Affordable Care Act was passed."

Kristen Whitney Daniels has Type 1 Diabetes and suffers from other auto-immune diseases. she said waiting for insulin is not a gamble she's willing to take.

"If the Affordable Care Act was repealed, millions of people like me would again be stuck in this phase where they max out of their insurance or have to wait or waiting periods," said Whitney-Daniels. "In about 24 hours, I would be dead without it and the problem with insulin is that it's so absurdly priced right now."

Those who support Obamacare believe there is some room for improvements.

"I think actually there's room for us in the United States to have both public plans offered by state governments and a public plan offered by the federal government that can effectively compete with private insurance," said Frances Padilla.

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