HEALTH CARE

Health care reform is helping millions of Americans get better health care. That's worth fighting for.

ABOUT HEALTH CARE

Health care reform changed the course of history in this country. It's been a goal for presidents and progressive leaders since the days of Teddy Roosevelt. Today, finally, no American can be discriminated against because of a pre-existing condition. The days of lifetime caps on coverage are gone. More Americans than ever before have the peace of mind that comes along with being covered.

But millions more still need health insurance, and there are still folks on the other side fighting to take us back to the days when insurance companies called all the shots and Americans had fewer basic protections. That's why we still need to stand up and make our voices heard.

WHY HEALTH CARE REFORM MATTERS

Before the Affordable Care Act, millions of Americans lacked access to quality, affordable health insurance, and even those who did have coverage had little protection against insurance company abuses. You could be denied coverage because of “pre-existing conditions”—something as serious as cancer or as minor as acne—and you could be dropped from health insurance plans when you needed it the most. Lifetime limits and rising costs left good health care out of reach for too many Americans.

Insurance companies can no longer discriminate against Americans because of a health condition. And it's now illegal for health insurance companies to arbitrarily cancel coverage due to illness. Lifetime limits on care are a thing of the past. And financial assistance is putting coverage within reach—nearly six in 10 uninsured Americans can get coverage for $100 a month or less. Women can't be charged more simply for being women. And young adults can stay on their parents' plans until the age of 26.

Americans are already seeing the results: a historic expansion of health care, with costs now growing at the slowest rate in 50 years.

EXPAND MEDICAID

The Affordable Care Act expanded Medicaid for millions of families, to help make sure everyone had access to affordable health care.

While 26 states jumped at the opportunity to expand access to health coverage for their constituents, 24 stood in the way because of stubborn state leaders who put politics over people. Those states are leaving a combined 5.7 million Americans behind.

There's no good reason why these states are preventing their citizens from having access to affordable care. OFA supporters are calling on lawmakers to put people over politics and stop blocking their constituents' access to affordable health care.