For Immediate Release
Thursday, September 23, 2010
“A Giant Step Forward”
Statement of AFSCME President Gerald W. McEntee on implementation of key measures of the Affordable Care Act
Washington, DC —“Despite the constant lies and distortions spread by corporate lobbyists and ill-informed activists, health care reform is already offering significant benefits to the American people. Today, we mark another important moment in the successful fight to guarantee health care for all. Beginning today, a number of patient protections in the law begin to take effect. Plans must begin to allow young people up to age 26 to stay on their parents’ health insurance plans, which is of particular importance when there are so few jobs available as a result of the Bush Recession. Insurance companies will not be allowed to exclude children from coverage due to a pre-existing condition. If you are insured, the insurance companies can’t cut your coverage if you get sick.
“These measures are good news for America. They are a giant step forward. Even more reforms will be finalized as we move forward, including a permanent end to the prescription drug donut hole that has hurt so many retirees. None of these historic reforms would be law today if the insurance companies and the Republicans who work for them had had their way. There are no death panels. There is no government take-over of health care.
“Yet, the repulsive efforts to undermine this reform continue. Republican candidates across the country threaten to quietly choke these reforms next year. Leading Republicans are calling for a government shutdown next year to force a repeal of these historic reforms. We will not let that happen. We will fight them every step of the way.”
