City Democrats Hold Health Care Reform Teach-in

Portsmouth City Democrats held a teach-in on Wednesday night to educate their members about the basics of the national health care reform law that Congress passed in 2010.

Joan Jacobs of Portsmouth emphasized that the Affordable Care Act will improve health insurance coverage and health care for all Americans at a time when Republican presidential candidates commonly refer to it as "Obamacare" and vow to repeal it if they are elected to the White House.

Jacobs said the plan will cost $938 billion over the next 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office. But there will be $124 billion in projected savings to offset the costs.

She said the creation of health insurance exchanges will make health insurance more affordable and most Americans will be required to purchase health insurance or be subject to a special tax.

Jacobs explained that many other presidents from the Progressive era in 1915 to Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton tried to get this done, but none of them succeeded.

"It is the biggest expansion of public insurance since 1965," Jacobs said. "It will cover another 35 million people who are not covered by any health insurance policy."

She also touched on former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's health reform plan that was approved in 2006. Pre-existing conditions were covered, everybody must get coverage and subsidies to help get affordable coverage were created.

"Massachusetts has had great success in getting everybody covered," Jacobs said.

Two-thirds of Massachusetts residents surveyed by a WBUR poll say they like the program and don't want to lose it, she said.

Since it was passed in 2010, Jacobs said there have been many misconceptions that have been circulated as part of the effort to repeal it.

Jacobs said the national health care reform law will not allow a government panel to make decisions about end-of-life care for people on Medicare. Jacobs said it is unfortunate that this misconception has morphed into the so-called “death panel.”

She said it will not allow undocumented immigrants to receive financial help from the government to buy health insurance. It will not cut benefits to people previously provided to all people on Medicare, she added.

Jacobs said the new law will not create a new government-run insurance plan to be offered along with private plans and it does not require businesses to provide health insurance for their employees.

She said it will require members of Congress and staff to get health coverage through health insurance exchanges.

“President Obama kept his promise,” Jacobs said. “I do think it is a major improvement for 32 million people.”

She said it will also make health care better for everyone regardless if they are on Medicare or do the federal government exchanges.

For example, she said for a family of four earning $33,500 a year, just above qualifying for Medicaid, health insurance will cost them $112 per month out of pocket.

“The out of pocket costs are going to go down for everybody,” she said. Preventative services will have to be free of co-pays, which represents a huge savings.

Jacobs said there will no longer be any annual limits for health insurance companies so if someone is sick and requires long-term care they will not have to worry about being cut off.

A big savings will be realized when the new law reduces the number of people who go to hospital emergency rooms for care. She said when we have 1/7 of the country without insurance and they seek emergency care, the hospitals get stuck with all of these costs and they have to pass it on to patients. People with private insurance end up paying an average of $1,000 extra per year to help hospitals cover those costs.

There is also a great deal of accountability built into the new law to make sure insurance companies play by the new rules, she said. For instance, she said the law also prohibits insurance companies who raise their rates in 2012 and 2013 from participating in the health insurance exchange in 2014.

Jacobs acknowledged that several states have challenged the new law on the grounds that it violates state's rights and individual rights and several of those legal arguments are scheduled to go before the U.S. Supreme Court sometime in March.

The battle lines have clearly been drawn between those who support President Obama's re-election bid and want to see the Affordable Care Act go forward in 2014 and those who want to repeal it by voting the president out of office in November.

 “The way I see it the president is standing with the middle class,” Jacobs said. “He will also stand and defend the Affordable Care Act, he’s in it.”