Here in Maine, we value independence and hard work. We want to make our own way, get a fair shot and provide for our families. So it’s easy to agree that everyone should have the opportunity to purchase affordable health insurance. Insurance gives us the peace of mind that one serious illness or event won’t lead to bankruptcy. It offers stability in an uncertain world.
Alyce and Andrew, a young couple who are self-employed and trying to build their lives here in Maine, had never been able to afford the expensive premiums for insurance to cover themselves — until the Affordable Care Act came along. With the help of the health care law’s tax credits, they were able to get coverage they could actually afford and continue to work for themselves, rather than giving up their business for a job that offered insurance benefits.
In 2015, Alyce gave birth to their son, Sam, and their family enjoyed the certainty of knowing that all insurance plans cover maternity services and childbirth, thanks to the Affordable Care Act. They were young and healthy. Every test and doctor’s visit before his birth gave Sam a clean bill of health. Nevertheless, this Maine family spent the first part of Sam’s life in emergency care at the hospital because of previously undetected congenital birth defects.
Without the Affordable Care Act, the best-case scenario would have left Alyce and Andrew drowning in more than $100,000 in hospital bills and medical debt as they cared for their first child. Instead of peace of mind from insurance coverage, they would have faced another long nightmare for their family.
President-elect Donald Trump, House Speaker Paul Ryan and many members of Congress appear to be rushing headlong into dismantling the Affordable Care Act. If they go forward with their plan to repeal the health care law with no plan to replace it, there will be real and life-threatening consequences for Mainers from Fort Kent to Kittery and everywhere in between.
Like almost all businesses, insurance companies and the health care industry dislike volatility and uncertainty. Repealing the exchanges without knowing what might replace them will kick the individual health insurance market into a tailspin. Insurers will spike premiums or flee the individual market entirely, leaving people such as Alyce, Andrew and Sam with no options. People who have been able to buy private health plans through the health care exchanges could see their insurance and financial security ripped away or face skyrocketing premiums that force them to choose between staying healthy or paying their oil bill. The ripple effect will be felt across our entire economy.
The Affordable Care Act’s benefits go far beyond the health exchanges that help people without insurance get tax credits and subsidies to lower the cost of their plans. The Affordable Care Act gives people control over their health decisions. It ensures that nobody can be denied coverage because of pre-existing conditions. It makes it illegal for insurers to raise premiums if someone has a break in coverage. It lets kids stay on their parents’ plan until they turn 26. Whether you get your insurance from your job, the health care exchanges, MaineCare or Medicare, or directly from an insurer, the odds are good that you’ve felt the benefits of the Affordable Care Act.
Let’s not forget that this landmark legislation was a major overhaul of a broken health care system. Could the law be improved? Certainly. Too many in our state still struggle with unaffordable premiums and rising health care costs. But the consequence of repealing the Affordable Care Act will be a massive step backward, one that endangers the health and lives and financial security of millions of people across America, including tens of thousands here in Maine.
Repealing the Affordable Care Act is more than irresponsible. We know what’s at stake. We’ve already lived the consequences of a broken health care system. If the choice is between patching the holes that are left in our health care system or throwing millions of Americans off their health insurance plan and undermining our economy along the way, then this should be an easy decision for Congress to make.
Emily Brostek is the executive director of Consumers for Affordable Health Care, a consumer health advocacy organization based in Augusta.