Open enrollment in the Affordable Care Act started on Nov. 1 in New Hampshire.
Over the past decade we have benefited tremendously from the ACA: New Hampshire has become a healthier place as the ACA has brought affordable, comprehensive care to more than 100,000 Granite Staters, along with lower premiums, increased competition, and more preventive heath care options.
Obamacare also helped hospitals by cutting back uncompensated emergency rooms visits. This real change in New Hampshire included requiring protections for people with pre-existing conditions, creating the insurance exchanges, and allowing premium subsidies for people with lower incomes.
The ACA has also made changes throughout our health care system, including expanding Medicaid eligibility for lower-income people and requiring private health insurance coverage of preventive care with no cost sharing (including vaccinations).
As for the opioid epidemic, the ACA provided greater access to substance use disorder treatment and has led to real. And, in this pandemic that is hitting our state, the ACA offers health care to those who lose their jobs.
Check it out: the ACA is the law of the land, and a vital tool in keeping New Hampshire healthy in the middle of a pandemic. It is there for you.
JAYME SIMÕES
Concord