LETTERLETTERLETTER
The following letter appeared in the July 5 edition of The Arizona Republic.
Health-care law does good
The Supreme Court's decision on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is the latest in a 100-year debate on the American health-care system going back to 1012 and Teddy Roosevelt. Proposals about fixing the system have come from every president since FDR and those proposals have come from both parties
The ACA has provided a significant number of positive results for the country and for Arizona.
o There are more than 3 million individuals under 26 who now have health insurance on their parents' policies. the number in Arizona is more than 70,000 people.
o More than 70,000 Arizona seniors on Medicare received a $250 rebate in 2010 to help pay for high drug costs.
o Insurance companies must now spend at least 80 percent of premiums on health-care services and not pocket the excess as profit. That means more than 400,000 Arizonans will receive some portion of a $27 million rebate on insurance premiums this summer.
The major provisions of the law start in January 2014 when some 30 million presently uninsured Americans will have access to health-care coverage. That number could be more than 500,000 for Arizona.
The ACA is not perfect but the good aspects far exceed the bad. In legislation, you try for the good since the perfect is never achievable.
Leonard Kirschner, MD, MPH
Litchfield Park
(Gazette Blog Editor's note: For more responsible, thoughtful journalism, have the The Arizona Republic delivered to your door seven days a week by calling toll-free 1-800-332-6733. There's more to the news than the Payson police report.)
1 comment:
Wow. So there are "bad" things in the ACA.
As a responsible MD and President of AARP AZ, Dr. Kirschner must have some clout. So what's keeping him form using his clout to help cull out the "bad"?
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