Quality, affordable health care is critical to the well-being of women, children and people of color. Today, however, many people in the United States have inadequate health care coverage or do not have health coverage at all. Those who have health care coverage often find that their coverage is limited and does not cover certain procedures, treatments, tests or medicines they need. Others find themselves unable to afford the care they need. While many individuals and families have inadequate health care coverage, millions more individuals are uninsured, forcing them also to suffer from insufficient care or receive no health care at all. To address the crisis in our nation’s health care system congress passed, and President Obama signed into law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in 2010.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was an historic step in the provision of health care in the United States. Continuing to reform the nation’s health care system, however, will involve discussions and decisions on critical issues including access to health care, health care quality, and health care affordability. Furthermore, there are additional health care issues are also important to women include reproductive health care services, health care disparities that affect people of color, and ensuring that special populations including the elderly, chronically ill women and men, low-income children and women, and children living in poverty continue to have access to care through programs including Medicare, Medicaid, and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).
There is a general consensus that the United State’s health care system has been in need of reform for many years. However, there are varying ideas on what the reform agenda should and should not include, how to best provide health care to the millions of people who are uninsured including individuals living in poverty, and how to best improve health care for the millions more who have health care but find it too little or too costly.
YWCA Position
The YWCA supports quality, affordable, health care. The YWCA supports a strong health care safety net that includes Medicaid, Medicare and State Health Insurance programs; making health care available to people who are uninsured; making health care more affordable; and the promotion of equity in health care access, treatment, and research.
Candidate Questions
What is your position on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that passed in 2010?
What is your proposal for addressing the high cost of health care?
If elected, how do you plan on helping individuals and families who have health care but find that the coverage does not meet their needs?
If elected, what is your policy agenda for addressing health disparities?
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