Seeing it as his duty to protect Kansans, Attorney General Derek Schmidt has put Kansas in the pool of objectors to last year’s federal health care reform law.
The benefits of the new law, Schmidt said, do not outweigh their damage by being made mandatory.
In other words, the government can’t make us take care of ourselves.
As if that were the problem.
Today, 129 million Americans could be denied health insurance if the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is repealed.
That’s the number of people who have pre-existing conditions and who until now were denied health insurance.
We’re not talking about cancer or a previous heart condition, though those also apply. Instead, reason for denial could be some routine but chronic condition such as arthritis or asthma, a one-time malady such as a ruptured disk, or a mental health issue such as attention deficit disorder.
Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, no child now can be denied health insurance because of a pre-existing condition. Beginning in 2014, no insurance company will be allowed to deny or limit coverage to anyone with a pre-existing condition.
Another boon to children is that they now can remain on their parents’ policies until they reach the age of 26.
For too long, the fear of dropped coverage has kept people in unsatisfactory jobs, held them hostage to exorbitant rates, or just plain prevented them from seeking the care they need.
WEDNESDAY night, the House voted 245-189 to repeal the landmark health care legislation. Republicans say they want to “repeal and replace,” the law — with what they have not said.
Mandating health insurance actually sits well with insurance companies for obvious reasons. But what rubs them raw are other stipulations such as requiring them to spend 80 percent of premiums on patient care, and not CEO bonuses. Or that they can’t charge women and children more than men and younger people. Or dump sick employees or deny coverage to those with pre-existing conditions.
Simply inconvenient.
Big insurers are banking on Republicans to install “free market solutions” that take them back to the good ole days.
Schmidt’s concern over the constitutionality of the health care act is misplaced. Instead of being worried that people’s rights are being infringed by mandating coverage, he instead should be concerned that their rights are being denied by an industry that for too long has taken advantage of their plight.
One of the big reasons for the divide over the health care act is that many of its provisions do not take effect until 2014, so most of us don’t feel their impact and see what a difference universal coverage can make to us as a country.
Sure the legislation has some rough edges that could be fine-tuned. On that, Democrats agree.
But to repeal it, throws out the proverbial baby with the bath water.
We deserve better.
— Susan Lynn
