Thursday, June 28, 2012

Happy Obamacare Day, America



Not to tell you what you already know, but today the Supreme Court upheld President Obama's signature legislation, The Affordable Care Act.  This means that:
  • Children will no longer be denied health insurance due to a pre-existing condition, effective immediately. 
  • Young adults can stay on their parent's health insurance policy until age 26. 
  • Adults will no longer be denied health insurance due to a pre-existing condition, effective in 2014.
  • Health insurance providers can no longer cancel your policy because you get sick. 
  • There can no longer be annual limits to health coverage. If your illness is incredibly expensive, you won't have to worry about reaching a limit to what your insurance company will pay.
Nearly 30 states, including Georgia, sued the federal government over this legislation. With the Supreme Court deciding in the Obama administration’s favor, it signifies a strong rebuke to Georgia Governor Deal’s persistent attempts to undermine health care reform.




But Republicans are going to use today's decision as ammunition to fire up their far right base just four months from Election Day. They're going to campaign hard against President Obama, against Democrats, and for repealing the health-care law. And if they win in November, they're not going to stop until they've stripped tens of millions of Americans of their health-care coverage and turned Medicare into a voucher program.

We can't let that happen. We need to stand up for the reforms that we've made and keep working towards providing universal health care for all Americans. The Republican voucher plan is bad policy and bad politics and Republicans are doubling down on it in light of today's decision. Turning Medicare into a voucher plan will destroy Medicare as we know it and will throw millions of America's seniors into poverty. It's also a huge loser for Republicans - an overwhelming majority of Americans oppose turning Medicare into a voucher program.

It's more important than ever that the Republicans are beaten back and good Democrats get elected in November. We need to work harder than ever to take back the House, keep the Senate, and reelect President Obama.

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