As the politics of the health reform repeal effort heat up, healthcare.gov has posted some interesting statistics on the cost of repealing the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
Instead of using emotionally-charged and inaccurate adjectives such as “job-killing”, the website provides facts about the number of people that would be adversely affected by the repeal of popular reform measures such as covering young adults on their family policies or providing free preventive services. The site offers data on both a national and a state-by-state basis, providing a useful sense of the number of Americans who would be negatively impacted by repeal.
Big numbers can be impressive but real family stories behind the numbers are most effective in showing the real impact of reform. Already the ACA has provided new protections to many Americans, young and old, as well as to small businesses struggling to provide coverage to current employees and large employers trying to hold on to benefits for retirees. And 2014 promises more with 32 million Americans expected to gain coverage, many for the first time.
Much of the recent Obama administration’s communications effort in response to repeal emphasizes that the ACA gives Americans more freedom in accessing health care and peace of mind. When armed with the facts, do Americans want to give up those protections and go back to the old way when insurance companies were allowed to do as they please?