Harrisburg, PA – On the 13th anniversary of the Affordable Care Act becoming law, Jeff Garis, Federal Campaigns and Program Director of the 99% PA Campaign and PA Budget and Policy Center, released the following statement celebrating record enrollment and lowered costs gained through the Inflation Reduction Act, and calling on Congress to finish the job so everyone has access to affordable coverage:
“After 13 years of non-stop attacks and sabotage from opponents, the Affordable Care Act has not only survived but thrived, hitting record enrollment in 2023 by providing quality, affordable coverage to over 371,516 Pennsylvania residents and improving coverage for over 100 million Americans nationwide. Both the ACA and Medicaid were invaluable tools throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring individuals could get affordable coverage when they needed it most. But it shouldn’t take an emergency to make healthcare affordable and accessible to millions more people: Congress has the power to make permanent the increased affordability provisions and Medicaid improvements that have brought the number of uninsured people to record lows over the last year.
We support President Biden’s recently announced budget blueprint to do just that by making enhanced premium tax credits permanent in the ACA and increasing investment in Medicaid to address the current mental health and substance abuse crisis, provide home based and community care options to aging people and people with disabilities, and extending provisions to lower drug prices beyond Medicare so that people of all ages can get affordable prescription drugs. Reining in the health industry’s price-gouging and raising taxes on billionaires and tax-dodging corporations is a commonsense solution to lowering costs while investing in services.
It’s a better approach than Republican proposals to cut spending on Medicaid, Medicare and the ACA, while at the same time proposing to extend the Trump tax cuts for the wealthy and to repeal the benefits under the Inflation Reduction Act. Rep. Scott Perry (R-10) is a co-sponsor of the IRA repeal bill. Through the Inflation Reduction Act, the President has already lowered out-of-pocket costs and prescription drug prices in Medicare by taking on price-gouging drug corporations and insulin manufacturers. For example, with the new controls on drug costs for seniors 2.2 million Pennsylvania seniors will have the peace of mind of knowing their pharmacy costs are capped for the year. Rep. Scott Perry (R-10) voted against the Inflation Reduction Act last year.
It’s time to finish the job of ensuring that everyone in America has access to quality, affordable health care by taxing corporations that make billions in profits so we can lower healthcare costs for people of all ages, fund mental health care, increase access to treatments for substance use disorders, support rural hospitals and expand home health care while reducing the deficit at the same time. The 99% PA campaign and the PA Budget and Policy Center calls on Congress to support the President’s plan to expand health care coverage and lower costs by finally making corporations and the very wealthy pay their fair share in taxes.”
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The 99% Pennsylvania is a campaign convened by the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center, calling on Congress to take action to advance the well-being of the vast majority of Americans. It’s time for Congress to do something for the rest of us—the 99%.
Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center, 412 N. 3rd Street, Harrisburg, PA 17101 | 717-255-7156
