Democrats Continue to Fight Trumpcare, Lift Up Stories of Lives Saved by ACA
Contrary to what the president believes, the Affordable Care Act saves lives. Under the ACA:
- 20 million previously uninsured Americans have access to affordable health coverage.
- There are no more annual or lifetime limits.
- Millions of Americans with pre-existing conditions cannot be discriminated against because of their condition.
- Women no longer are being charged more than men for the same coverage.
- Health care costs have grown at the slowest rate in over 50 years.
Meanwhile, Republicans' latest Trumpcare debacle means higher health costs for less coverage, even more hard-working Americans losing health coverage, and stealing from Medicare and Medicaid to benefit the wealthiest 1% in America. Instead of forcing Trumpcare on American families, President Trump and Congressional Republicans must work with Democrats to ensure affordable health care for everyone, everywhere.
Today and every day, Democrats will continue to turn up the heat against Republicans' assault on the health of seniors and working people and lift up the stories of lives saved by the ACA:
Zoe Madison Linh [7 years old]:
"The Affordable Care Act protects Zoe. Trumpcare would put my daughter's future in danger." – Stacey Linh, Zoe's mother
Zoe Madison Linh was born with a heart defect in May 2010. She faced her first of three heart surgeries at 15 hours old. By six months old, Zoe was halfway to the lifetime limit her insurer placed on her care. Just 6 months had gone by, and already she was facing the possibility of an insurance company saying her life had cost too much money.
Without the ACA, Zoe and her family faced a harrowing future; not only using up all of her lifetime coverage before preschool, but carrying the burden of a pre-existing condition for the rest of her life. With the Affordable Care Act, Zoe is protected.
"It's been seven years since my son, Eli, was diagnosed with Stage IV brain cancer. The Affordable Care Act helped us get Eli the treatment he needed – but our fight isn't over … If the Republicans' Trumpcare plan becomes law, there's no way we'd be able to get Eli the treatment he still needs. If Trumpcare takes away his Medicaid, my son won't get to become the fully independent member of society that he deserves to be." – Jeremy Dilts, Eli's father
"I was a Republican, and I worked for the Regan and Bush campaigns. I was opposed to the Affordable Care Act. When it was passed, I told my wife we would close our business before I complied with this law. Then, at 49, I was given six weeks to live with a very curable type of cancer. We offered three times the cost of my treatments, which was rejected. They required an insurance card. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, I'm standing here today alive. Being both a small business person and someone with pre-existing conditions, I rely on the ACA to be able to purchase my own insurance."
Kati McFarland [26 years old]:
"I was diagnosed with a rare, incurable genetic connective tissue disorder called Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome several years ago. And I keep getting worse. They're talking feeding tube, they're talking pacemaker. I have a chemo port to get fluids and nutrients. And basically, my parents are dead, I'm a college student, I can't work. And without the ACA that saved my life, without the protections of the ACA, I will die. That's not hyperbole: I'm going to die."