Health care is always an issue at the top of the mind for working families, but this year the pandemic has thrown our health care system into sharp relief. With more than 210,000 dead and millions of others infected with the novel coronavirus, it is more important than ever to ensure all Americans have access to quality health care.
And yet the Trump administration – even in the wake of President Donald Trump’s COVID diagnosis and hospitalization – is still trying to take away the health care of millions of Americans by suing to overturn the Affordable Care Act (ACA). With no plan to replace it.
“Health care is a human right,” says Ketha Otis, the president of Local 2862 (AFSCME Florida).
Otis has firsthand experience with the difference the ACA has made to so many. When her son turned out to have a congenital heart defect and needed open heart surgery, she knew he would be covered thanks to the 2010 law. She knows having a preexisting condition won’t prevent him from getting covered in the future – unless Trump succeeds in overturning the law.
Joe Biden, in contrast, helped shepherd the ACA into law when he served as Barack Obama’s vice president, and he has promised to strengthen it as president.
He’ll expand access by offering a public option for health insurance, meaning low-cost, quality care will be available to everyone. He’ll act to lower premiums and lower the cost of prescription drugs. And he’ll make sure the ACA’s protections for people with preexisting conditions remain in place.