Whenever the likes of Mitch McConnell
bleats "repeal," this
report from the Commonwealth Fund needs to be shoved in his chinless face.
Eighty-four million people―nearly half of all working-age U.S. adults―went without health insurance for a time last year or had out-of-pocket costs that were so high relative to their income they were considered underinsured, according to the Commonwealth Fund 2012 Biennial Health Insurance Survey. The survey also found that the proportion of young adults ages 19–25 who were uninsured during the year fell from 48 percent to 41 between 2010 and 2012, reversing a nearly decade-long trend of rising uninsured rates in that age group. This reversal is likely due to a provision in the 2010 Affordable Care Act allowing young adults to stay on their parents’ health insurance until age 26, the authors say. The report, Insuring the Future: Current Trends in Health Coverage and the Effects of Implementing the Affordable Care Act, finds that the percentage of Americans who were uninsured, underinsured, or had gaps in their health coverage grew steadily between 2003 and 2010, with the number of underinsured nearly doubling from 16 million in 2003 to 29 million in 2010. However, between 2010 and 2012, the numbers of underinsured adults leveled off, growing to 30 million. The authors say that this is partly a result of slower health care cost growth and lower overall health spending by consumers, combined with declining household incomes. But provisions in the health reform law—such as requiring insurers to cover recommended preventive care without any cost to patients—also are beginning to make health care more affordable for many consumers.
Mitch McConnell, and House Republicans who are preparing their
upteenth repeal vote need to explain to every single one of those 84 million un- or underinsured people why they don't deserve access to affordable insurance. They should also be forced to explain to all of the young Americans who now have insurance because of Obamacare why they want to take it away.