Barack Obama is teaming up with his former VP to remind people of what the law has done — and what Donald Trump will try if he gets the chance.
It has been 14 years since then-President Barack Obama signed the Affordable Care Act, with Vice President Joe Biden at his side. It was one of that administration’s crowning achievements — or, as Biden said in a famous hot mic moment, a “big fucking deal.”
On Saturday, Biden and Obama plan to mark the anniversary with a virtual campaign event, as part of a broader effort to put the law at the center of Biden’s presidential reelection campaign. The idea is to remind voters about what the Affordable Care Act has accomplished ― and what could happen to it if Donald Trump retakes the White House.
There is a lot to say on both counts.
Tens of millions of Americans now get health insurance through the Affordable Care Act, either via expanded state Medicaid programs that the ACA funds or subsidized private coverage that the ACA makes available. Together, those features have brought the proportion of Americans without health insurance to historic lows.
The law also introduced legal guarantees of coverage for people with preexisting conditions. Those matter because, back in the day, insurance companies could charge higher premiums to people with diabetes or a history of cancer ― or deny them insurance altogether. They could also sell policies that left out whole swaths of coverage, like maternity care or treatment for mental illness.
Now with Trump on the ballot again, those changes could be in jeopardy ― for reasons that are right out in plain view, but aren’t getting the close look they deserve.
Meanwhile, what the majority of the PEOPLE want is M4A or another single payer plan with more coverage for much less money than the current free for all for predatory private “health insurance” companies.
There’s literally no good reason to settle for the ACA in 2024.
The ACA was written by the damn insurance companies. It was a freaking joke vs what we should have today…single payer.
Then vote blue across the ticket and give them no excuse not to do better. Republicans will destroy what little progress we’ve made and destroy healthcare for low income people
You do know that’s contradictory, right? They’re more than capable of governing as if they’re in the minority no matter how big their majority.
There’s always enough conservative democrats to stand in the way of any real change and there always will be until the bar is no longer “slightly less awful than the Republicans”
I know. I’m not saying that the Dem leadership is as bad as the Republicans. I’m saying that they’re still bad enough that they’ll never pass M4A unless they’re forced to.
Both parties collect a shitload of legal bribes and Democrats collect even more from the health insurance leech industry and big pharma than the famously corrupt and pro-corporate Republicans do.