Statement
Mom Advocate Urges Congress to Consider the Impact of Repealing Affordable Care Act on Children and Families
January 19, 2011
Lisa Lederer, 202-371-1996
Statement of Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, Executive Director, MomsRising On Effort To Repeal the Affordable Care Act
"Save lives, cut the deficit, and give people the freedom to help sick children. How could anyone be against that? Yet, efforts are afoot in Congress to repeal the Affordable Care Act before it's even fully implemented as planned over the next several years. In fact, there's a vote expected in the House to take up this matter next week. This direction is bad for our nation. After all, already this Act, is keeping more kids healthy by stopping insurance companies from being able to drop their coverage due to pre-existing conditions, and stopping the bad practice of capping coverage just when people need it most.
Repealing the new health care law known as the Affordable Care Act wouldn’t protect personal freedoms. It would take them away, while putting more power back in the hands of insurance companies. That’s not good for our families. In fact, the new benefits under the law have freed millions of Americans from worry that they'll lose or be denied insurance, made it easier for small businesses to sponsor coverage for their employees, and provided more affordable prescriptions for seniors on Medicare. In other words, the new law is giving people more freedoms and more choices. Further there's misinformation about what health care reform will do to the federal deficit. Full implementation will actually cut the deficit: The Congressional Budget Office has estimated the savings from the legislation will more than offset the cost of expanding coverage to some 30 million uninsured, reducing the federal deficit over the next 10 years.
We’ve been hearing from families across the country about how this law will give them reliable health insurance when they or their children get sick. It will help them keep their kids healthy and get care for them when they are not. Repealing the health care overhaul would put control over health care back in the hands of insurance companies.
The new benefits have freed millions of Americans from the worry that they’ll lose or be denied insurance. They’ve made it easier for small businesses to sponsor coverage for their employees. And they’ve provided more affordable prescriptions for seniors on Medicare. Repealing this law would strip away these important benefits.
The voices of parents across the country are ringing in our ears and I wish Members of Congress who want to repeal this law could hear those voices. Voices like Julie’s, whose daughter Violet suffers from a life-threatening form of epilepsy and who will likely hit her lifetime health care coverage limit by age four without health reform. Voices like Dawn's, whose son Wesley has an eye condition, which is finally covered by her insurance policy because under the new health care law children's pre-existing conditions can no longer be excluded from coverage.
Let’s not kid ourselves. Going without health care isn’t freedom. For too many people it’s a death sentence. That’s why we’re delivering tens of thousands of petition signatures and hundreds of family stories about how the Affordable Care Act has helped their families to Members of Congress urging them to listen to the voices of moms, dads, grandparents, uncles, aunts and kids and keep moving forward to make our country healthier, not backward."
Stories referred to in this statement and others from across the country are available here.