As a Latino educator in support of universal insurance coverage, I hope that Latinos (the growing voting block of tsunami proportions) will not readily forget the supporters (Democrats and Republicans) of the Affordable Care Act when election time comes later this year.

Why do I support the Affordable Care Act?

Every sensible person knows that a family’s overall well-being is tied to the good health of every member of that family. This is no different with societies. For us Americans, it means this: our country’s ability to be competitive, productive and innovative depends largely on the general good health of every group that makes up our society. It’s not politics, it’s commonsense. Access to health care is neither a Republican nor Democrat issue. It is a national issue. Ensuring that all Americans have decent health coverage is, in my opinion, every citizen’s responsibility. Think of it as a “Preventive National Defense” strategy. The healthier each of the groups that make up our nation is, the less at risk or vulnerable every other group will be.

I am also a father to two children: a 10 year old and an 11 month old. My support for the Affordable Care Act has a lot to do with them. It also has a lot to do with the many children (of all races and economic backgrounds) I have taught as a high school, elementary, middle and pre-school teacher. But let me speak about ACA from the perspective I know best.

Historically, Latinos have ranked and continue to rank low in the list of groups with access to medical care and, in difficult economic times like the present, the situation is exacerbated. Fortunately, the passage of the Affordable Care Act lessened the burden of excessive co-payments for many Latinos who were already insured but opted to skip very important routine medical visits because of the out-of-pocket cost of each visit.

Here’s one example. If my family cannot afford the co-payments (which range from $5 to $50 or more per person) for vaccines to fight common diseases, the likelihood of any of us catching diseases and spreading them in our communities (school, work, parks, church, etc,) increase. This example is not theoretical but based on my own reality: I am currently unemployed and recently had my home of 10 years foreclosed. The last thing my wife and I need is to be nickled and dimed into extinction by insurance companies.

For my family, not having to pay those co-payments for preventive care has also had a welcome, side benefit: a little extra money to cover other basic family expenses. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, many other Latino families who find themselves in financial trouble due to the current economic crisis no longer have to contend with the additional stress of having to fork out more money just to try and stay healthy. For the majority of working class and poor families I know, even a $10 co-payment puts a dent on their small budgets and, when aggregated, create a lot of stress. By not having to pay for routine preventive care, those co-pay savings can cover other basic needs: school supplies for school-aged children, clothing, shoes, etc.

My favorite part about the Affordable Care Act, however, is that since March of 2010, insurance companies cannot deny coverage to children with pre-existing health conditions. I am particularly happy about this as I think of the many Latino and African-American families who live in the nearby city of Richmond, California, where the air is often so toxic authorities have to issue “stay at home” warnings. A disproportionate number of these children have asthma and other respiratory diseases linked to, no doubt, the pollution caused by oil refineries in the area. By law, insurance companies cannot deny coverage for a child based on their having asthma or any other pre-existing condition.

The last thing I’ll mention is that, among other things, ACA is also helping to bring health education to under-represented groups like Latinos at the same time that it is creating incentives for people to pursue careers in the health care profession. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg of an impact that the Affordable Care Act is having on the wellbeing of ALL Americans.