FLORIDA — A new Tampa Bay Times report outlined the bleak future in store for Floridians if the Affordable Care Act is overturned by the Supreme Court. The potential dissolution of the ACA would leave hundreds of thousands of Floridians unable to pay for health care, and yet this is what President Donald Trump continues to advocate for. Only heightened by the ongoing pandemic, the article revealed the crucial role the Affordable Care Act plays in keeping Floridians safe and healthy — losing the ACA would be detrimental to the well-being of citizens across the Sunshine State.
Tampa Bay Times: What the potential death of the Affordable Care Act means for FloridaBy Kirby Wilson | October 6, 2020
KEY EXCERPTS:
- “Few states would be more affected than Florida by the demise of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. The Trump administration is currently arguing before the Supreme Court that the entire law should be terminated.”
- “‘Although nearly 2 million Floridians signed up for health care in the federal insurance marketplace created by the law in 2019, some 800,000 more remain uninsured because the state has not expanded Medicaid.”
- “If the Supreme Court strikes [the ACA] down, ‘it’s hard to overstate the consequences, not just for people’s health care coverage, but for the health care system as a whole,’ said Sabrina Corlette, the co-director of Georgetown University’s Center on Health Insurance Reforms.”
- “If the law were to go away, many of the hundreds of thousands of Floridians on subsidized health care plans would be immediately unable to afford them”.
- “Trump’s promised a health care plan that will work better for consumers while protecting those with pre-existing conditions.… But Trump’s been promising to deliver such a plan for his entire first term. Thus far, he’s yet to offer specifics.”
- “Even if Floridians with pre-existing conditions could still afford their coverage in a post-Obamacare world, the disappearance of the Affordable Care Act would mean more uncertainty about health care during a pandemic.”
- “‘It’s kind of hard to overstate how confusing or chaotic [losing Obamacare during a pandemic] would be,’ [Sabrina] Corlette said.”
Statement on Secretary Scalia’s Visit to Miami Today from Secretary and Treasurer of Unite Here Local 355
In response to U.S. Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia’s visit to Miami today, Wendi Walsh, Secretary and Treasurer of Unite Here Local 355 released the following statement:
“If Secretary Scalia is here today to tout the Trump Administration’s job record, I have just one question: what world are you living in? Just today we saw another spike in Florida’s unemployment claims from last week, proving once again that our workers will continue to suffer while the Trump administration twiddles its thumbs on combating the coronavirus pandemic and providing federal relief to the hundreds of thousands of jobless Floridians who simply cannot live on $275 a week. After making sure Wall Street and his Mar-a-Lago buddies were taken care of, Trump simply gave up on providing additional assistance to working people. While Trump will go down as the worst jobs president in history, we have the opportunity to change course this November and elect Joe Biden, a leader with the experience and conviction to help working people weather this crisis and build our economy back stronger.”
Statement on Naples MAGA Event from Arne Carlson, former Republican Governor of Minnesota and Naples resident
In response to the MAGA event today held in Naples, current resident and former Republican Governor of Minnesota Arne Carlson released the following statement:
“Campaigns should always be truthful in order to afford the voter a legitimate choice. Any independent evaluation of the management of this pandemic has declared the President’s leadership as a failure and even catastrophic. The New England Journal of Medicine, which never involves itself in politics, felt compelled to weigh in calling Trump ‘dangerously incompetent.’ The ultimate proof lies within the White House itself. Does anyone want to work there now?
“To make matters even worse, the Trump Administration is before the Supreme Court seeking to have the Affordable Care Act declared unconstitutional. If this were to occur, millions of Americans will be without any access to proper care. We should all be able to agree that that is inhuman.
“As a retired Republican Governor of Minnesota, I am proud to stand with so many other Republican leaders in calling out Trump for his failures and wholeheartedly endorsing Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. We desperately need a change for the better.”
Photos from Bermix Studio on Unsplash
