The groundswell of grass-roots activism across the country worked, holding off the harm the GOP plan would have caused if they had repealed the Affordable Care Act and replaced it with the American Health Care Act, or “Trumpcare.” As a nurse, and a member of a health care union, I was proud to stand with millions of American families and say a loud no to undermining the protections we gained with the ACA.
I did so because I saw first-hand the positive difference the Affordable Care Act made — not only to many of my patients, but to my big brother Keith when he was diagnosed with brain cancer at age 58. He began receiving treatment, and it was clear that Keith was the person the dictionary authors had in mind when they defined the word “fighter.”
Before the ACA, people like my brother could be denied coverage or charged much higher rates due to a pre-existing condition. But because of the ACA, Keith was soon able to qualify for coverage. It gave me the gift of more time with my big brother. In his journey, Keith participated in trial treatments that gave us an additional 10 months. He willingly participated so that others with glioblastoma might have more time with loved ones.
Here in Alaska, the Affordable Care Act dramatically reduced the number of uninsured Alaskans, from almost 19 percent to 10 percent. Since 2013, an additional 44,291 Alaskans have received Medicaid coverage, thanks to the ACA and Medicaid expansion in our state.
The campaign to save the ACA was like triage — we responded to a real emergency and brought the patient back to life. Now, we really have to get to work, strengthen and improve the ACA, and make health care more affordable.
Instead, I hear our president talk about sabotaging the ACA to score a political victory. Just this week, he tried to broker a deal with House Republicans that would have removed protections for patients with pre-existing conditions, patients just like Keith. Equally appalling, President Trump and Vice President Pence offered to remove essential benefits — like maternity care, mental health visits, substance abuse treatments and emergency room services — just to get that political win. Well, it may have been a win for Trump, but all Americans stood to lose.
Trumpcare wasn’t a health care plan at all — it was a $600 billion tax break for wealthy Americans that would have robbed 24 million people of their health insurance by 2026. Working families, older Americans, children, patients with chronic illnesses and low-income Americans living in rural areas would have suffered the heaviest cost.
The AHCA would have undermined my ability to care for my community and forced my hospital to make choices about services based on what it can afford, instead of what my community needs.
To be clear, the Affordable Care Act is not perfect. One bill can’t fix the health care system any more than one treatment can cure an illness. Following a treatment, any good health professional will set goals, monitor progress and make adjustments when necessary. The ACA expanded coverage and provided crucial consumer protections, but costs need to come down for working families and care needs to be more accessible.
Right now, Trump has the obligation to protect access and affordability for millions of Americans. That’s what he promised as a candidate, but what his administration is proposing will do the opposite.
Trump should pledge to provide the subsidies that allow working and poor families to purchase insurance; to provide adequate funding for Medicaid expansion; and to make it easier for people to find affordable coverage. Instead, he has pulled advertising to boost enrollment, proposed narrowing enrollment periods and threatened to cut funding for lowering out-of-pocket costs for consumers.
Every major nursing, physician, public health and hospital organization opposed the GOP plan. Our professional obligation demanded it; we take care of patients, regardless of their income, or where they live, or who they are. It’s what we also expect of our health care system and the elected and appointed officials who are the stewards of our health care system.
• Donna Phillips, BSN, RN, is the Labor Council Chair for the Alaska Nurses Association. She resides in Girdwood.
