That's how many Americans
with Medicare Part D no longer have to go through the "doughnut hole"
coverage gap. This means seniors can save more than $5.7 billion on
prescription drugs.
That's the number of
small businesses estimated to be eligible for tax credits for providing
health insurance to their 19.3 million employees nationwide, credits
worth $15.4 billion in 2011 alone.
That's how many
low-income adults will now have access to health insurance thanks to
states implementing the expansion of Medicaid under Obamacare; an
additional 5.8 million poor adults would be included in this count if 25
mostly Republican-led states weren't refusing Medicaid expansion.
That's how many people
will benefit from the Obamacare provision that eliminates all bars for
coverage based on pre-existing conditions. Studies say that anywhere
from 19% to 50% of non-elderly Americans have health conditions that
could qualify as pre-existing conditions.
That's how many current
Medicare enrollees can feel secure knowing that, under Obamacare,
existing Medicare benefits can neither be reduced nor taken away.
-- That's how many
Americans — i.e., all of us — potentially benefit from the requirement
that insurance companies provide flu shots, HIV screenings, prostate
exams, mammograms and FDA-approved contraception for free, without a
co-pay.
-- Plus, we all benefit
from new requirements that insurance companies must spend at least 80%
of our premium dollars on our health care as opposed to marketing or
administration.
-- We all benefit from
the new requirement that insurance companies publicly justify their
actions if they want to raise premiums by 10% or more.
-- We all benefit from knowing that our insurance can now never be capped or canceled at the whim of insurance companies.
As high quality care is
maintained while costs may go down because of improved coverage and
access, we all benefit from a more affordable and effective health care
system.
What about, you ask, the
estimated 4.7 million Americans who lost their current insurance plans
during the rollout of Obamacare? Well, according to a congressional
report, 2.35 million or so can take advantage of the Obama
administration's decision to grandfather those plans through 2014.
Another 1.4 million
qualify for Medicaid expansion or subsidies in the Obamacare exchanges.
On top of that, the Obama administration has agreed that a "hardship
exemption" built into health care reform for any American facing major
challenges in complying with the law would be interpreted to include
those whose policies had been canceled. In other words, they won't be
penalized.
When Republicans rolled
out stories of alleged Obamacare victims, the details were usually
debunked in some way. The truth is that many of the canceled plans were
no longer legal under Obamacare because they neither covered the basic
things insurance should cover or, worse, were dangerously designed to
explode the minute the insured got sick: what Consumer Reports has
called "junk insurance."
Arguing that people should be able
to keep these plans is like arguing that people should still be allowed
to drive defective Chevy Cobalts or cars without seat belts. Like it or
not, the government's job is to help keep us safe and insurance
companies that were peddling shoddy products were doing the opposite.
Polls show most
Americans want to keep Obamacare and work to fix it rather than replace
or get rid of health care reform altogether. And there's much to suggest
support for Obamacare would be even higher were it not for constant
Republican attacks and misinformation about the law.
After all, when Americans find out what specific provisions are included in Obamacare, they overwhelmingly support them.
Eighty percent support the extension of dependent coverage, 79% support
closing the Medicare "doughnut hole," 77% support eliminating
out-of-pocket costs for preventive services, 74% support the expansion
of Medicaid. These Obamacare components are even supported by a majority
of Republicans.
And it's still early. As
more Americans access private health insurance choices through the
exchange marketplace, receive care minus the discrimination and dirty
tricks that insurance companies could get away with in the past, we'll
see more people getting the medicine they need, screened for cancer
sooner in more treatable stages and pay less for good care.
Every day, as we all see
the benefits of health care reform in our lives, support for Obamacare
will grow stronger. Before long, not even the most partisan Republicans will be able to attack it
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