The most important policy victory in 2010 was the passage of health care reform.  The Affordable Care Act:

• Will extend insurance coverage to 32 million previously uninsured Americans.

• Contains important consumer protections and a new Patient’s Bill of Rights that end some of the worst insurance company abuses.

• Bans ‘lifetime limits’ on the amount of coverage enrollees receive, so families can have the security of knowing that their coverage will be there when they need it most.

• Bans insurance companies dropping individuals’ coverage just when they get sick.

• Allows young adults to remain on their parent’s insurance until their 26th birthday.

• Prohibits discriminating against children with preexisting conditions.

• Requires insurance companies to cover recommended preventive services without charging out of pocket costs: services like mammograms, colonoscopies, immunizations, pre-natal and new baby care will be covered, and insurance companies will be prohibited from charging deductibles, co-payments or co-insurance.

• Will close the Medicare doughnut hole, so seniors aren’t left with outrageous out-of-pocket costs for their prescription drugs.

• Provides new resources for states to help crack down on health insurance premium increases, protect consumers and develop health insurance marketplaces where consumers will have the same health insurance choices as Members of Congress.

• Pilots a slew of new cost-saving measures aimed at making our system more efficient and actually lowering the cost of health care – instead of shifting it from the government to the consumer.

• Is projected by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office to save over $100 billion over the next ten years, and over $1 trillion in the following decade.

We will now have to work to protect the law from being dismantled by a new, more conservative Congress. President Obama has vowed to fight any attempts to repeal, restrict, or undermine the health care bill, but opponents will keep trying and we must be vigilant to defend the law – especially the provisions that help low-income families and the most vulnerable Americans.

May 2011