Letter to the Editor: Seeking to destroy health care protections

To the Editor:

This Administration has joined with Republican Attorneys General from 17 states to bring a case before the Supreme Court that seeks to strike down the Affordable Care Act. If successful, this would bring a permanent end to the health insurance program wiping out coverage for 23 million people and ripping away protections  for people with preexisting conditions.

Prior to the Affordable Care Act, which was passed 10 years ago by the Obama Administration and the Democrats, insurers were allowed to discriminate against people who had preexisting conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, COPD and asthma (just to name a few). Insurance companies denied coverage, charged higher premiums and denied any claims associated with a preexisting condition. Health insurance was unaffordable resulting in millions of uninsured Americans and bankruptcies caused by huge medical bills.

The Republicans voted 43 times to repeal the Affordable Health Care Act but were unsuccessful.  What the Republicans could not accomplish legislatively, they are trying to do through the Supreme Court. Their lawsuit has drawn opposition from health care providers and insurers, patient and nonprofit groups and other nonpartisan experts, all of whom warn of the catastrophic effects of abolishing the Affordable Care Act.

Amid a pandemic that has devastated the economy and left millions of Americans unemployed and thus without health coverage, the Republicans are moving ahead with their lawsuit to strike down and abolish the Affordable Care Act. The Supreme Court will hear the case after the election around November 10.

The total disregard that Republican politicians have for how their actions harm people, hospitals, providers and our health care system is unconscionable.

Karen Pratte
Waterville