We are an informal network of patients, faith leaders, doctors and nurses, and other advocates from across Arizona. We’re very supportive of the bipartisan hearings on ACA stabilization in the HELP Committee and supportive of the bipartisan proposals coming from the Governors and the Problem Solvers Caucus. We are very worried about the Graham Cassidy bill as it will leave millions more uninsured, allow massive increases in premiums among the elderly, and reduce access to women's health and preventative care.
Now is the time for bipartisan work on solutions to preserve and refine the affordable care act to better serve all Americans. Any changes to the ACA must meet all four of the following principles:
1. Healthcare for more people, not fewer,
2. With lower out-of-pocket expenses for individuals, not higher and
3. The same or better benefits and protections including minimum coverage requirements, preventative and mental health care, full support of women's health and birth control access, real protections for persons with pre-existing conditions, regardless of age or income,
4. While continuing Medicaid expansion and sustaining Medicaid as an entitlement, rejecting block grants or per capita or lifetime caps on healthcare access.
Congress should immediately support measures to:
1. Stabilize the insurance marketplaces by including increased cost sharing subsidies (CSRs)permanently in the annual appropriations process.
2. Ensure equitable access in coverage for all, including those in underserved markets by restoring funding for risk corridor's and offering an additional nationwide option open to all individuals, such as the opportunity to buy into Medicare, Medicaid, or to join the Federal employee benefits program.
3. Expand individual eligibility for insurance premiums subsidies.
4. Raise eligibility for Medicaid eligibility to a higher percentage of the federal poverty level, and continue Medicaid expansion.
5. Lower Medicare eligibility to 55.
6. Support funding for state reinsurance pools while retaining all pre-existing conditions protections.
7. Lower drug prices by authorizing drug re-importation from countries with recognized high-quality drug regulatory authorities like Canada, by facilitating Medicare drug price negotiations, and revoking government granted drug patent monopolies.
8. Ensure continued funding for outreach and enrollment assistance through the Navigators and other outreach education, and marketing activities.
9. Extend funding another two years for the National Health Service Corps to support 10,000 primary care physicians in underserved rule and urban communities.
10. And require insurer's to pay for home and community-based services for people with disabilities and seniors allowing their freedom to live in independent life.
11. Create a system to lower health care cost by not allowing insurance companies and hospitals to negotiate health care cost.
Tax credits are less effective than direct subsidies and health savings accounts have no relevance to poor and working people.