EDITORIAL: ACA works; cure politics [The Citizens' Voice, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.]

Citizens' Voice, The (Wilkes-Barre, PA)

Mar. 24—Wednesday marked the 12th anniversary of President Barack Obama signing of the Affordable Care Act, Obamacare.

The program has survived more than 70 Republican-sponsored votes to kill it, and two challenges before the U.S. Supreme Court, to become a pillar of American health care.

Since 2010, the number of uninsured adults younger than 65 has fallen by about 41%; 14.5 million Americans now have insurance through ACA federal and state exchanges, and nearly 19 million more have coverage through the program's Medicaid expansion. This year, more than 100 insurers offer more than 15,000 individual plans.

In Pennsylvania, which began its own insurance exchange, "Pennie," under the ACA in 2021, results have been profound. The number of uninsured adults fell from nearly 12% in 2010 to about 6% today, and the decline in uninsured adults in minority populations has been even greater. Nearly 4 million Pennsylvanians are insured directly through the state exchange or the program's Medicaid expansion.

All Americans have benefited from the ACA prohibiting insurers from denying coverage due to pre-existing medical conditions. The law also eliminates annual or lifetime coverage limits. Young people have been able to stay under their parents' coverage until age 26. And it has closed the "doughnut hole" in Medicare prescription coverage.

Despite the success, some Republican politicians continue to use it as a bogeyman. Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin recently called for its elimination, and Sen. Rick Scott of Florida has made vast reductions part of an egregiously bad policy agenda.