Even though the Democrats suffered considerable losses during the elections this week, American voters do not want the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act repealed, according to consumer health organization, Families USA. Voters have been particularly worried about their jobs, unemployment and the economy; concerns which override the Republican Party’s pledge to repeal the health care reform introduced this year, the organization stresses.

Regarding the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Ron Pollack, Executive Director of Families USA said:

American voters’ focus during the elections was overwhelmingly on jobs and the economy, and this will remain the key public concern until the economy substantially improves. As pre-election polls reflect, calls to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act are not supported by America’s voters, and they certainly were not the motivating factor in the elections.

Many independent polls have demonstrated that a majority of Americans either want to allow implementation of the new law to move forward or want to build on it to make further health reform improvements. Most voters do not want to repeal the new law and lose the many benefits they are already receiving or will receive.

Families USA says that the American public would like to preserve the following reforms:

  • Allowing people’s offspring to stay on their health coverage until they are 26 years old
  • Assistance for elderly patients who find themselves in the “doughnut hole” – typically, seniors on multiple medications
  • Doing away with lifetime caps in insurance policies to protect against family bankruptcies
  • Not allowing health insurance companies to charge premiums that discriminate against women
  • Not allowing health insurance companies to deny cover for pre-existing conditions
  • Opportunities for disabled individuals and elderly people to receive care at home and in the community, instead of in nursing homes
  • Regulations allowing patients to challenge claims refusals by health insurance companies
  • Subsidies (tax credits) for middle-class families so that they can afford health insurance premiums
  • Supervision at state level making sure that health insurers to not raise premiums unfairly or spend an excessive proportion of premium money on profits or overheads
  • Tax credits that make the provision of health cover affordable for small businesses
  • The provision of preventive care screenings without copayments and deductibles

Pollack added:

All of these provisions will help many millions of Americans. As a result, officeholders seeking to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act would cause great harm, and they would do so at their own political peril. Incredibly, even though repeal proponents persistently criticized health reform while supporters often focused on economic and local issues, most voters still oppose repeal. This augurs well for the future of the new law as more and more people directly benefit from its provisions.

Now that the contentious elections are over, it is time for policy makers to work cooperatively to ensure that health reform is implemented as helpfully and effectively as possible. If that happens, America’s families will secure the peace of mind associated with access to high-quality, affordable health coverage and care.

The Republicans now have a majority in The House (Congress), while the Democrats still have a majority in the Senate. A Republican repeal would likely be stopped by the Senate, and ultimately by the Whitehouse.

Source: Families USA

Written by Christian Nordqvist