We are going to be hearing tons of news about the Affordable Care Act this week. March 23, 2012 is the second anniversary of the ACA. Next week, the Supreme Court will hear arguments about certain aspects of it. Many representatives are pointing out the benefits of the ACA. Here is what Representative Lois Capps had to say about it.
Representative Lois Capps is the Congresswoman who represents California’s twenty-third district. That district covers the South and Central Coasts of California, which includes parts of San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Ventura counties. She is a Democrat.
I signed up to get email updates from the office of Representative Lois Capps. Today, I was sent an email that detailed many of the ways that the Affordable Care Act has helped the people she represents. This includes how the ACA has helped residents as well as small businesses. You can read more about the details by clicking on the links on her website. Here are just a few of the ways that were listed in the email I received.
The ACA prohibits insurers from withdrawing a person’s coverage because that person became seriously or chronically ill. This has protected 410,000 local individuals.
The ACA prohibits insurers from placing a lifetime limit (or a financial “cap”) on the amount of health care they will cover for a person. This has protected 210,000 local individuals.
The ACA requires health insurers to let parents keep their children on the parent’s health insurance plan until their offspring reaches his or her twenty-sixth birthday. This has supplied health insurance coverage for 9.500 local young adults.
The ACA provides coverage of key preventative health services for men, women, and children, without charging any out-of-pocket costs for people who are enrolled in new private plans. This has provided free preventative services for 24,000 children, and 110,000 adults who are under the age of 65, (in the area that is represented by Congresswoman Lois Capps).
The ACA, in 2011, provided a 50% discount for brand name drugs for seniors who were affected by the Medicare Part D “donut hole” coverage gap. This provision lowered drug costs for 6,200 local seniors. These seniors have already received prescription drug discounts that total $3.8 million. They got an average discount of $610 per person.
These are just a few of the ways that the Affordable Care Act has helped the people who who live on the Southern and Central Coasts of California. Imagine how many people the ACA has helped, all across the United States!
Image by Lindsay.dee.bunny on Flickr