PITTSBURGH, Sept. 10, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The family of a United Steelworkers (USW) member from Montpelier, Ohio, is one of thousands of families across the country already realizing the life-saving benefits of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA).
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Diagnosed with liver cancer when he was just nine months old, Travis Turner soon exceeded the
$1 million lifetime cap on his father's USW-bargained insurance plan. Since then, the ACA has made lifetime caps illegal, allowing Travis to return to his dad's plan. The story of Travis, now 7 and in remission, and his parents, Karrie and Craig, is the subject of a new documentary video the union released today.
Karrie Turner said it was important for ordinary Americans to understand the benefits of the ACA, commonly called Obamacare, including another new rule that patients can't lose or be denied coverage due to pre-existing conditions like Travis' cancer. "If it hasn't directly affected them, they just don't know" how important the reforms are, she said.
Besides those changes, and opening up access to health insurance for 30 million Americans, other benefits of the law include allowing children to stay on parents' plans to age 26, cutting costs of preventive care, and reducing drug costs by closing the Medicare "donut hole."
With Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and Congressional Republicans promising a full repeal of the law, the November election takes on added importance, said USW International President Leo W. Gerard. "Travis' story and the thousands of others like his remind us all why we need to fight so hard to make sure Barack Obama is re-elected," he said.
To watch the video, visit www.usw.org/election2012.
The USW represents about 850,000 workers in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean in a wide variety of industries, ranging from glassmaking to mining, paper, steel, tire and rubber to the public sector, service and health care industries.
CONTACT: R.J. Hufnagel,
412-562-2450,rhufnagel@usw.org
SOURCE United Steelworkers (USW)
