Unfortunately for Arizona, they could not let any people enroll during this period because they are part of the federal exchange and Donald Trump cruelly refused to reopen them.
Good job Jan Brewer and Republican leadership at the time for not setting up at the time. Shame on you.
Medicaid rolls are rising in states like Arizona, North Carolina, and Colorado.
The short term junk health insurance plans that the Trump Administration encouraged people to purchase are turning out, as expected, to be cheaper in more ways than their monthly premiums. Patients who are enrolled in these plans are receiving spectacularly high bills from health care providers during the pandemic.
The Coronavirus is surging across most of the country with states like California, Arizona, Texas, and Florida absorbing most of the new cases.
What is Donald Trump doing to help the health care situation?
Nothing.
He is, to the dismay of "public servants" like Texas Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz pulling federal funding for Coronavirus testing centers.
He has not had a change of heart about reopening the Federal health exchanges and in the dead of the night on Thursday (June 25) evening, he and his Justice Department cowardly filed a legal brief, going along with several states (including Arizona and Texas,) with the United States Supreme Court, asking them to throw out the Affordable Care Act.
If this is successful:
23,000,000 Americans can instantly lose their health insurance.
According to the Center for American Progress, 360,000 Arizonans could lose health care insurance and 2.8 million with preexisting conditions in the state could face the prospect of losing coverage or astronomical medical bills.
Without the promised Trump care plan (one could put that in the pile with the other broken commitments like working hard every day, getting the best people, and Mexico will pay for the wall,) for health care that is better and cheaper than Obamacare, it is hard to fathom how Donald Trump, Martha McSally, Doug Ducey, and Mark Brnovich could cruelly pay with people's lives by threatening to take away their health care.
They are risking the health and lives of all Arizonans and Americans by their actions and inactions.
During a public health emergency, this is unconscionable.
Matt Grodsky, the spokesperson of the Arizona Democratic Party, issued a statement which read:
"The Affordable Care Act has been a critical lifeline for Arizona families who have been left reeling from Donald Trump’s catastrophic coronavirus response. But instead of working to deliver relief to our communities, Trump and the GOP are hellbent on ripping away health care coverage from Arizona families in the midst of a global pandemic. Arizonans deserve leaders who will keep their promises and fight to expand coverage, lower costs, and secure protections for pre-existing conditions — not wage attacks on our health care when we need it most.
Joe Biden wants to make Health Care for all Americans better, pledging to be a President "that will Care" about Everyone.
Joe Biden and his team take a people-first approach to provide quality, accessible, and affordable health care.
If elected the former Vice President, in remarks delivered in Lancaster Pennsylvania, pledged to care and work hard to build on Obamacare and the American Economy for everyone, including the people that do not vote for him.
Comments in Lancaster about Trump's poor performance on healthcare and the Coronavirus.
Before delivering his remarks, Joe Biden met with families first who benefited from the Affordable Care Act. They movingly told how Obamacare maybe saved their lives and their financial futures with their preexisting coverage, preventive care, lifetime cap provisions.
When making his comments with the families in attendance, Mr. Biden then criticized Trump for cruelly filing the brief with the Supreme Court, warning that:
23,000,000 Americans could lose health care coverage.
Preexisting condition discrimination would return and prices would dramatically rise.
COVID 19 could be the new preexisting condition.
Prescription drug prices would rise.
Biden called on Trump to "stop the lawsuit and give people peace of mind."
He also reminded people that the Affordable Care Act "saves lives."
Commenting that Trump is being cruel and heartless, wanting to undo the Affordable Care Act "because Obama did it," Biden further said:
“They don’t need a President to go into court to deny them the health care they now have. They need a President who will fight like hell to make sure they get the health care they need."
The Democratic Presidential Nominee then chastised Trump for his handling of the Coronavirus including his potentially lethal stance on testing because it makes him (trump) look bad.
Biden's comments included:
“(Trump) needs to stop caring about how he looks and needs to start caring about America”
“No miracle coming”
“ (We) need responsible leadership”
“(We) need to wear masks”
“(We) need to socially distant”
“To fix the economy you have to get control of the virus.”
“He’s (Trump) like a child. All this whining and self-pity. Well, this pandemic didn’t happen to him. It happened to all of us. His job isn’t to whine about it; His job is to do something about it. To lead.”
Biden offers hope and a glimpse of what he would do as President.
The former Vice President then said what he would do in the area of health care if elected President.
“If I have the honor of being your President, I promise you I will lead….I will put your family first and that will begin with the dramatic expansion of health coverage and bold steps to lower health care costs."
“This is my promise to you. When I’m President, I’ll take care of your health care coverage and your families the same way I would my own."
Mr. Biden then listed some of the policies he would pursue in his Administration. They include:
• A Medicare style Public Option, especially for those unemployed during the pandemic
• Lower premiums, no more than 8.5 percent of their income on health care.
• Lower deductibles
• Lower prescription
• Ending surprise billings.
Biden finished by recounting how lucky he was to have health insurance for his two surviving boys after they were injured when his first wife and daughter were killed in a car accident.
He then discussed the last days of his son, Beau, who died from brain cancer, and pondered that people would be made to “suffer In peace" if Obamacare (was taken away.
He then finished by addressing the families he met earlier saying:
“That’s what the Presidency is. The Presidency is a Duty to Care. A duty to care for everyone. Not just who voted for you but for everyone. For all of us. No trust is more sacred… then for a President to protect American lives. So I want every single American to know. If you’re sick. If you’re struggling, If you’re worried about how you’re going to get through the day. I will not abandon you. I will not leave you to face these challenges alone and we’re gonna get through this together…. We’re gonna build our county back to better than it was before this God awful crisis."
To watch Vice President Biden meet the families who have benefits from Obamacare and his address in Lancaster, please click on the video below.
For more information on Mr. Biden's health care plans, please click here.
https://joebiden.com/healthcare/
January Contreras and Julian Castro host Health Care Roundtable for Arizonans.
As Joe Biden completed his address in Pennsylvania, 2018 Democratic Attorney General Candidate January Contreras and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary (and Presidential Candidate) Julian Castro hosted a health care roundtable for Arizonans.
With Alicia DeWitt and Jeff Jeans as fellow panelists, all four praised the benefits of the Affordable Care Act, how it helped them, and how the following (and others not mentioned) could become preexisting conditions if Obamacare is taken away.
Diabetes
Pregnancy
Family History
Depression
COVID 19
They worried about the proliferation of junk medical insurance plans championed by the current Administration, as mentioned earlier, that leave people with burdensome medical bills that force individuals into bankruptcy.
They all agreed that:
Healthcare should be a right.
The Affordable Care Act needs to stay affordable.
Prescription drugs need to be reduced.
Medicaid needs to be expanded.
None of this (Obamacare) can be taken away. Jeans said, "It needs to be sustainable and permanent."
"To take the profit out of health care (a Dewitt comment.)"
Castro finished by stating Americans can:
"Go backward with Donald Trump or forward on health care with Joe Biden."
Moving Forward
The Democrats in the House have unveiled a health care expansion plan. While not as ambitious as the Biden plan, it is a step in the right direction and can be built upon, especially after a Biden election and the Democrats taking control of the United States Senate.
Healthcare is a human right and everyone is entitled to quality, accessible, and affordable care.
Donald Trump, Martha McSally, Doug Ducey, and Mark Brnovich have failed Arizona and the United States on Health Care.
Joe Biden, Mark Kelly, and the other Democrats running for Congress and the State Legislature will not if voters trust them to wisely serve them in 2021 and afterward.
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