Kansas City, Kan., Mayor Mark Holland is encouraging residents who want to keep Obamacare to contact their U.S. congressmen and senators.
About 6,000 previously uninsured Wyandotte County residents have been able to access health care under the Affordable Care Act, according to the mayor. However, an effort is underway in Washington, D.C. to repeal the law.
“As elected officials, leaders, and citizens, we must tell our United States legislators that the ACA works for Wyandotte County and for the 20 million Americans who have received insurance through the ACA marketplace,” Mayor Holland said in a statement. “Repealing the law would leave 6,000 Wyandotte residents without the health coverage they need for their well-being and their financial security.”
Holland said, in a news release, that Wyandotte County has received national attention, including special recognition from the White House, for efforts to enroll residents through the ACA marketplace.
Since 2013, more than 6,000 residents have enrolled; of those 4,000 signed up through an initiative called Enroll Wyandotte. In all, the county’s uninsured rate dropped was nearly cut in half—from 26 percent to 14 percent, the largest reduction in Kansas.
“The time and energy our community invested in taking full advantage of this law must now be used to protect it,” Mayor Holland said. “There is too much at stake.”
This local effort to keep Obamacare is not part of a national effort, although local officials are aware that other communities also are contacting their legislators.
In statements to the media in January, Kansas Sens. Pat Roberts and Jerry Moran have stated they are in favor of the repeal and replacement of Obamacare. U.S. Rep. Kevin Yoder, R-3rd Dist., has supported the repeal of Obamacare in the past. Sen. Moran has stated that many residents told him in town hall meetings that they were against Obamacare.
No legislation has had such a positive effect on health and quality of life for Wyandotte County residents as the ACA, said Jerry Jones, executive director of the Community Health Council of Wyandotte County. The organization led Enroll Wyandotte efforts.
Wyandotte County dramatically decreased the number of uninsured residents under the ACA, according to Jones.
“To repeal this law without a simultaneous replacement that provides even more affordability, and even greater protections for Kansans, would put thousands of lives at risk,” he said.
Advocates for the ACA have said the number of uninsured people in the nation could double by 2019 if Obamacare is repealed.
The chair of Healthy Communities Wyandotte, Cathy Harding, said it is a risk that Wyandotte County cannot afford to take. She said under a complete repeal, insurance companies might be allowed to deny coverage because of pre-existing conditions, and children up to age 26 would not be allowed to remain on their parents’ group health insurance.
“Thousands of Wyandotte Countians wake up every day without the fear that a significant health care issue could bankrupt them because they now have insurance,” Harding said. “That is impact enough. But some of the most compelling stories come from individuals with a health problem who could not obtain health insurance coverage or lead productive lives before the ACA.”
Contact information for Rep. Yoder: http://yoder.house.gov/contact
Sen. Pat Roberts, https://www.roberts.senate.gov/public/?p=EmailPat
Sen. Jerry Moran, https://www.moran.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/e-mail-jerry
– Story from information from the mayor’s office
No Obama care will only put a strain on families, drs. and especially emergency rooms.