Press Releases
WASHINGTON
– Today, Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Finance
Committee who helped craft the health reform legislation in the
Senate, released the following statement marking the one year
anniversary of the Affordable Care Act being signed into law by President
Obama:
"For
years now, the U.S. has been spending twice as much on health care as most
other advanced nations while still failing to get better results and leaving
millions of Americans without coverage. The Affordable Care Act, which
President Obama signed into law one year ago, represents significant progress
in our effort to improve health care for all Americans.
"It
works by establishing new initiatives – such as tax credits to help small
businesses with the cost of providing health care; expansion of employer
wellness programs; removal of co-payments for preventative services like
screenings and immunizations; annual checkups in Medicare; assistance to help
seniors pay for prescription drugs such as through closing the Part D donut
hole; consumer protections to prevent insurance companies from denying coverage
to Americans with preexisting conditions or dropping their coverage when they
get sick or injured; and new, stronger programs to fight fraud, waste
and abuse that will protect and extend the life of Medicare. These
initiatives and more help deliver better health care results for less money,
and in doing so, ensure that we can provide more Americans with access to
affordable, quality care.
"That being said, we all know there is no such thing as a perfect law, and health care reform is no exception. This anniversary offers an opportunity to highlight the law's strengths, as well as work on areas where we can and should make improvements. Fortunately, this law is not written in stone, and I will continue to work with all of my colleagues and the Administration to improve the law and our health care system."
For more information on the Affordable Care Act and its benefits for Delaware please visit: http://www.healthcare.gov/.
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