Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

GUEST COLUMN:

Destroying Obamacare would destroy lives

I believe health care is a human right. You may be like me.

Part of my conviction comes from the fact that, as a person with a disability, I need health care to live a normal, productive life. In 2010, I was diagnosed with a disability that had impaired my life all throughout my twenties. Deeply ill, I almost had to drop out of my master’s program. I was living in Massachusetts at the time and getting treatment at some of the best hospitals in the world. That allowed me to recover in a year and a half (normal recovery time is two years or more for my condition). Part of this time was spent on Medicaid because I was unable to focus on job hunting, graduated late, and spent some time unemployed. But I had health care because I lived in a state that valued universal health insurance coverage.

After the Affordable Care Act (aka, the ACA or Obamacare) was passed, I was assured I would not be denied coverage due to my pre-existing condition. On two occasions afterwards, I did work that did not offer health insurance, and I was able buy affordable, quality plans on the health insurance exchanges created by the ACA. Because of the ACA subsidies, I pay $160 a month for my coverage, and copays for my medications and doctor’s visits are $8-$30. My condition can cost tens of thousands of dollars per year to treat, so it is critical that I have coverage.

Tens of millions of people gained coverage because of ACA plans and the very popular Medicaid expansion, which increased the eligibility limit for Medicaid to 138% of the federal poverty level. In other words, those who make less than $17,609 a year are eligible for free health insurance in the states that expanded Medicaid, as Nevada did. The authors of the ACA thought the Health Insurance Marketplace with subsidized plans would be the most popular part of the law. But it actually turned out to be Medicaid expansion, which was so popular that many Republican governors adopted it, including those in Ohio, Arizona, Oklahoma, Idaho and Missouri. And expansion is a good deal for the states because the federal government picks up 90% of the bill. Do we really want to repeal all that and throw some of the most vulnerable citizens in the country off of their health insurance?

The ACA is even more necessary now because of the coronavirus. Millions of people have lost their jobs and their health insurance, and there is a pandemic raging through the country. Where will people go for coverage if not Medicaid and the Health Insurance Marketplace?

President Donald Trump came into office vowing to repeal the ACA because it was passed by President Barack Obama and fellow Democrats. In his speech at the 2020 Republican National Convention, Trump claimed that he and Republicans would protect Americans with pre-existing conditions. However, in June, Trump’s administration asked the Supreme Court to strike down the entire ACA, including protection for people with pre-existing conditions. In a Fox News interview July 19, Trump promised his administration would be coming out with a replacement plan in the following two weeks. To date, no plan has emerged.

Even before the coronavirus pandemic, the impact of the ACA on Nevada was profound. The uninsured rate in Nevada declined by 42% from 2013 to 2016. In 2017, about 75,000 Nevadans were enrolled in an exchange plan. As of 2018, over 200,000 Nevadans were covered by expanded Medicaid. Nevada Medicaid currently covers 20% of Nevadans.

Is it really good for Nevadans that the president destroys something that has so positively and deeply affected our neighbors’ lives? Americans and Nevadans should ask themselves who cares more about their health and well-being. Joe Biden, who helped pass the ACA? Or the man trying to take away the coverage of millions of Americans, including hundreds of thousands right here in Nevada?

Ankur Shukla worked in federal health care policy, including the Affordable Care Act, for several years. He was raised in Nevada, and holds a masters of public policy from Harvard University.