FOR RELEASE: November 18, 2013
CONTACT: Stephanie Niedringhaus, 202-347-9797 x224,  sniedringhaus@networklobby.org

Washington DC – NETWORK, A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby, today issued the following statement regarding healthcare reform:

NETWORK’s strong support for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has never wavered.

Like the rest of the nation, we have seen the current media barrage about the healthcare website and cancelled policies. Clearly, there have been problems, and we sympathize with those who have been affected by them. We also commend the administration for working to address them.

At the same time, we deplore that lost in the media frenzy and obsessive partisan attacks is the simple, undeniable fact that the quality of our healthcare system has already improved over what we had before the Affordable Care Act was signed into law. And it will improve even more in the coming years.

Here are just some of many reasons why, when fully enacted, the ACA benefits our entire nation:

• Extending insurance coverage to millions more Americans, including those with preexisting conditions, will save many, many lives.

• People with disabilities and serious or chronic diseases do not have to live in fear that they will reach their policies’ annual or lifetime limits.

• Women will not receive less insurance coverage simply because they are women.

• Young adults can stay on their parents’ health insurance policies until they are 26.

• Expanded Medicaid coverage will result in about 13 million people currently without insurance receiving health coverage in the coming years. This number will grow even higher as states now rejecting expansion change their minds. (We are working hard to make that happen.)

• People on Medicare will no longer pay for annual checkups or for many preventive screenings for cancer, depression, diabetes and other conditions.

• By closing a gap in coverage, Medicare is reducing what people with very high prescription costs have to pay each year.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects that healthcare marketplaces and Medicaid expansion will mean that 25 million more people have health insurance. And that is just the beginning.

Our faith teaches us that access to healthcare is a fundamental human right. It would be an injustice to our entire nation if we allow ourselves to be deceived by purely partisan attacks that seek to dismantle or destroy the lifesaving Affordable Care Act.

We at NETWORK, along with thousands of our supporters and activists, continue our call for expanded healthcare for those who previously lacked insurance and for improved services for all. That is the moral, prolife position to take.

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