Tag Archives: Affordable Care Act
White House Women’s Update: An Investment in Our Nation’s Future
Last week, President Obama spoke about the ways the Affordable Care Act is positively impacting the health and lives of women and their families.
You can read more about the President’s commitment to health care for women in his 2013 proclamation for National Women’s Health Week.
Over the weekend, First Lady Michelle Obama delivered the Commencement Address at Eastern Kentucky University, and earlier this week, Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, Cecilia Muñoz, met with a coalition of mothers and children who use their voices to speak out about the importance of high-quality, early education.
Thank you for all that you do.
White House Council on Women & Girls
President Obama Explains How Health Reform Is Helping Women
President Barack Obama delivers a statement on the Affordable Care Act in the East Room of the White
Just before Mother’s Day, President Obama spoke to a group of women – including many moms – about the ways the Affordable Care Act is already helping millions of Americans like them.
“Women in particular now have more control over their own care than ever before,” the President said. “And I’m pleased to be joined today by many women who wrote in to tell us what the Affordable Care Act means to them.”
Carol was one of the women who wrote to the President, and today, she introduced him in the East Room. Carol’s son, a 22-year-old college grad and traumatic brain injury survivor with a rare genetic lung disease, was able to stay on his family’s health insurance policy instead of being kicked off the plan this year. Finding coverage on his own would have been nearly impossible, as Carol wrote to the President: “Given his history, he would be virtually uninsurable under the old set of ‘rules.’ Instead of contemplating law school, all of his resources would have been channeled into somehow, somewhere, finding health insurance.”
Carol and her son are why the Affordable Care Act lets young people stay on their parent’s plan until they turn 26, President Obama said.
President Obama talked about a few more ways the Affordable Care Act is already helping people across the country. You can watch the video of the event and read the full post here.
Celebrate National Women’s Health Week
President Obama issued a proclamation in honor of “National Women’s Health Week.” As Secretary Sebelius said, National Women’s Health Week is a time when “As a nation, we honor the women in our lives – our mothers, grandmothers, aunts, sisters, cousins, friends, and colleagues – by encouraging them to make their health a priority and to take steps to live healthier, happier lives.”
You can get more information and tools on National Women’s Health Week here and you can follow on Twitter using #NWHW.
First Lady Michelle Obama Delivers the Commencement Address at Eastern Kentucky University
First Lady Michelle Obama delivers remarks during the Eastern Kentucky University commencement at the EKU Alumni Coliseum in Richmond, Ky., May 11, 2013. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)
First Lady Michelle Obama celebrated a new class of graduates from Eastern Kentucky University.
“You all went through so much to make it to this day — the highs and the lows, the triumphs, the challenges, the celebrations, the devastations — and I’m not just talking about your love lives, either,” the First Lady told the graduates. “I’m talking about all those papers you poured your heart into; all those caffeine-fueled all-nighters; those moments of anxiety as you set out on your own, looking to find new friends you clicked with and a new community to call your own.”
At Eastern Kentucky, the students were part of a community committed to public service — and in the past year, the seniors and their classmates put in more than 107,000 hours of volunteer work. And Mrs. Obama told the Class of 2013 that they needed to maintain that commitment as graduates.
You can read the full text of the First Lady’s remarks here.
Meeting with Mothers and Advocates for Our Children
(Jeff Martin, National Women’s Law Center)
During his State of the Union address in February, President Obama called on Congress to expand access to high-quality preschool to every four-year old in America. As the President put it that day:
“In states that make it a priority to educate our youngest children, like Georgia or Oklahoma, studies show students grow up more likely to read and do math at grade level, graduate high school, hold a job, form more stable families of their own. We know this works. So let’s do what works and make sure none of our children start the race of life already behind. Let’s give our kids that chance.”
This week Cecilia Muñoz met with mothers, leaders, and tireless advocates that understand that the best investment we can make as a country is in our children’s future.
You can read Cecilia’s full post here.
CBO : Affordable Care Act
CBO’s analyses of the health care legislation passed during the 111th Congress began in early 2009 and continued past the enactment of the Affordable Care Act (ACA, which consists of P.L. 111-148 as amended by P.L. 111-152) in March 2010. The agency’s previous and ongoing work on ACA covers a wide range of topics, some related to specific legislative proposals and some with a broader perspective.
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H.R. 1549, Helping Sick Americans Now Act
cost estimate April 19, 2013
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How Has CBO’s Estimate of the Net Budgetary Impact of the Affordable Care Act’s Health Insurance Coverage Provisions Changed Over Time?
blog post March 20, 2013
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Growth in Means-Tested Programs and Tax Credits for Low-Income Households
report February 11, 2013
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Effects of the Affordable Care Act on Health Insurance Coverage—February 2013 Baseline
data or technical information February 5, 2013
ACA is a job creator
click on 
The Affordable HealthCare Law resolves health care and jobs issues.
If you believe in moving into the 21st Century, believe in health care being accessible to all , if you believe it is a right not a privilege or that the overhaul is long overdue; then you are on the right side of history. Please do not believe how some are portraying ACA, as a law for the poor. I do not believe that parents with kids in college would say they are poor nor rich and these days most families have two or more in college at the same time. Therefore, having children covered until 26 is considered a relief to some families
The fact is over 32mil people will now have access to an improved health care system that will need more doctors, PA, and those great nurses who we usually see when we feel bad. Think about it, what does it take to run a Hospital? Our current workforce cannot possibly handle that many new customers and will need to hire more folks from the so-called bottom up such as grounds, parking lots, security, maintenance, janitors to gardeners to receptionists, and more. I have no idea how many people go to the doctor each day, but if you have an appointment during the workday, your child is in school, goes to daycare or you take them with you … most people do not; bam more jobs needed.
I cannot begin to list the impact of 32million more people added to the health care system, but the proof of it being a jobs bill is obvious.
In Solidarity …
Information : from www.Whitehouse.gov
For a comprehensive overview of the Affordable Care Act, visit WhiteHouse.gov/HealthReform and HealthCare.gov.
Let’s take a look at what today’s ruling means for the middle class:
- Insurance companies no longer have unchecked power to cancel your policy, deny you coverage, or charge women more than men.
- Soon, no American will ever again be denied care or charged more due to a pre-existing condition, like cancer or even asthma.
- Preventive care will still be covered free of charge by insurance companies–including mammograms for women and wellness visits for seniors.
- By August, millions of Americans will receive a rebate because their insurance company spent too much of their premium on administrative costs or CEO bonuses.
- 5.3 million seniors will continue to save $600 a year on their prescription drugs.
- Efforts to strengthen and protect Medicare by cracking down on waste, fraud, and abuse will remain in place.
- 6.6 million young adults will still be able to stay on their family’s plan until they’re 26.
A major impact of the Court’s decision is the 129 million people with pre-existing conditions and millions of middle class families who will have the security of affordable health coverage.
#Fiscal Cliff …
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Faces of Diabetes …
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Congressional Budget Office : Medicare Budget & other health extentions
Detail on Estimated Budgetary Effects of Title VI (Medicare and Other Health Extensions) of H.R. 8, the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012
As passed by the Senate on January 1, 2013
Health Care Supporter,
Health care will be front and center when the Democratic National Convention begins tonight. There will be a short film about the fight for the Affordable Care Act and the important benefits it has delivered to the American people. During the hour starting at 8 p.m. ET, be sure to see the story of how health care reform has transformed the lives of people across the country. Later we’ll hear from Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and First Lady Michelle Obama.
We expect the video and these leaders to highlight some of the life-changing accomplishments of Obamacare that will be felt for generations to come:
- People with pre-existing conditions will no longer be blocked from buying affordable health insurance.
- The Medicare prescription drug plan donut hole has begun to close for good.
- Seniors now have a whole range of preventive health benefits with zero out-of-pocket cost.
- Women are entitled to no-cost contraception and preventive benefits.
- Insurance companies must spend 80% of premiums on actual health care or give the difference back to consumers.
- Small businesses that offer health plans to their workers are collecting tax credits.
Be sure to follow HCAN on Twitter and like us on Facebook. We’ll be sharing the video as soon as it is available. You can also watch the convention without interruption on C-SPAN.
Thanks,
Will O’Neill
Health Care for America Now
the Progress Report : Obamacare(s) and it matters
This Is Why Obamacare Matters
A Personal Story About the Importance of Obamacare
In the back and forth of politics, it’s sometimes easy to forget why we fight so hard for progressive values each and every day. So today we wanted to share a personal story from one of our ThinkProgress colleagues, Ian Millhiser:
About two years ago, my boss asked me to co-author a brief defending the Affordable Care Act in the first federal court to consider the law’s constitutionality. My response was more or less what any competent observer of the Constitution and Supreme Court precedent would have said at the time — “I’ll get right on it, but do we really think that it’s necessary?” Like pretty much everyonewho practiced constitutional law in 2010, I overestimated either the integrity or the competence of many federal judges, and wrongly assumed they would each follow the constitutional text and nearly two hundred years of precedent establishing that Obamacare is constitutional.
As it became increasingly clear that many judges were more interested in their own ideology than they were in faithfully and impartially applying the Constitution, I became more and more involved in health reform’s defense. Throughout this effort, I believed this fight was essential to the millions of Americans who, unlike me, either cannot afford health insurance or who risk becoming uninsured because of their preexisting health conditions.
As it turns out, I spent those two years fighting for people exactly like me.
Three weeks ago, I left work in an ambulance and a great deal of pain. In the night that followed, doctors determined that I had a bowel rupture leaking digestive fluid into my abdominal cavity, and a truly outstanding surgeon removed about 8 inches of my small intestine. A few days later, my doctors told me I have Crohn’s disease, a chronic condition in which my immune system sometimes decides to go rogue and attack my own digestive tract.
The upshot of this is that, in one night, I transformed from the kind of patient health insurers drool over — a young, healthy man whose biggest medical expense in the last ten years was a broken toe incurred during a kung fu class — to what those same insurers deem a “high risk” patient. If I lost my job tomorrow, or if I left CAP and ThinkProgress to start my own business, it is very unlikely I would be able to afford health insurance once my current plan runs out. Indeed, without Obamacare, it is reasonably likely that I would not be able to obtain insurance at any price. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, however, the insurance industry’s practice of denying care to high risk patients like myself will soon be illegal.
So let’s be clear, there are people in this world who have the right to complain; I am not one of them. I have a wonderful girlfriend who took care of me when I was unable to sit up and when I had to get out of my hospital bed eight times in one night to go to the bathroom. I come to work every day and spend the next ten or eleven hours working to turn my moral values into a reality. I am blessed with hard working and dedicated colleagues who are some of my closest friends. And I’ve somehow managed to find an organization that is willing to pay me a salary and offer me generous health benefits to do this. I am one of the most fortunate people in the world.
But I am also deeply grateful that the Supreme Court did the right thing last month. Because of Obamacare, I will never have to know what it is like to fear that my next trip to the doctor could be a ticket to bankruptcy. And when the law takes full effect in 2014, millions of Americans just like me will wake up free of this fear for the rest of their lives.
Evening Brief: Important Stories That You May Have Missed
$1.1 BILLION in rebate checks from health insurers are in the mail thanks to Obamacare.
Mitt Romney caused yet another international blowup on his trip abroad.
Is Mitt Romney a wimp?
Chart: See how state and local budget cuts are hurting the economy.
It’s official: marriage equality is part of the Democratic Party’s platform.
Mitt Romney praised Israel’s universal health care system, which includes a mandate that everyone purchase health insurance.
Just in time for his stop in Poland, Polish Solidarity trade union rebuked Romney for his attacks on organized labor in the U.S.
Republicans v. Women.
Yes, Republican voter suppression laws could help them steal the election.
Other recent Progress Reports
Jul 27, 2012: GOP Chooses Millionaires Over Military
Republicans to Blame for Impending Defense Cuts Earlier this week, Mitt Romney denounced the president’s “radical cuts” to the military. Republican Sens. John McCain (AZ), Kelly Ayotte (NH), and Lindsey Graham (SC) are launching a road show to attack the president for automatic defense spending cuts set to take effect January 1, 2013 — cuts [...]
Jul 26, 2012: A Gold Medal in Outsourcing
A Closer Look at Mitt Romney’s Olympics When the Olympics come to America, it’s rightfully a source of pride for all Americans. And Mitt Romney certainly likes to tout his experience running the 2002 Winter Olympics. He was so proud of the job he did, he became the first ever Olympic leader to personally commission his [...]
Jul 25, 2012: Checkmate on Middle Class Taxes
Will the GOP Set Middle Class Taxes Free? In an effort to avoid being blamed for holding middle class tax cuts hostage, Senate Republicans today caved and allowed the rarest of rarities: an actual up-or-down, majority vote on a bill. They gambled that Democrats didn’t have the votes to pass their plan — and they [...]
Jul 24, 2012: GOP on Taxes: It Gets Worse
Republicans Will Raise Taxes — Just Not on the Wealthy As we discussed recently, Republicans are holding middle class tax cuts hostage in order to give the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans yet another extra tax cut. If that wasn’t bad enough, the Republicans are now affirmatively proposing to raise taxes on tens of millions [...]
Spread the Word: The Health Care Law is Working for Women
When the Supreme Court took up the Affordable Care Act last week, opponents asked the Court to overturn the new health care law entirely. But if that were to happen, women would lose vital protections — including coverage of women’s preventive services with no co-pays — that the law now guarantees.
Please help spread the word about what the new health care law is doing for women — share our new video, “I Will NOT Be Denied,” and help people understand what we’ll all lose if the Court strikes the law down.
Because of the new health care law, just in the past year:Over 20 million women with private insurance have received at least one preventive health care service without a co-pay or deductible. Over 39 million women no longer face lifetime limits on coverage, so they can get the health care they need. About 2.5 million young adults gained health coverage because they could stay on their parents’ plans until age 26. And these provisions are just the beginning. Will you please help tell the world what the law is doing for women? Please share our new video and help us tell opponents of affordable care “I Will NOT Be Denied.”™
Thank for all that you do on behalf of women and their families.
Sincerely,
Dania Palanker, Senior Health Policy Advisor
