The Affordable Care Act became law on March 23, 2010. More than one year later, many of its significant victories for children’s health have already taken effect, with many more yet to roll out over the next few years.
Yet the law’s constitutionality is being challenged in a series of upcoming court actions, including a June 8 proceeding in the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. Should this or any other pending lawsuit find the health care law unconstitutional, many of its strong child health protections could be undone. This would be a devastating blow for children’s health here in Atlanta and across the country.
Let me tell you why.
Currently under the law, no child can be denied health insurance coverage because of a pre-existing condition. These conditions can range from some of the most common and easily treatable such as asthma to potentially life-threatening ones such as childhood cancer. What this protection means for so many children here in Atlanta is something many of us take for granted: access to health care services.
Not only does this access help pediatricians monitor and treat complex conditions before they flare up, but it also helps save our health system money in the long run by keeping these conditions in check with preventive care.
Oftentimes an early diagnosis can be the difference between a routine test and a trip to the emergency room. Before health reform became the law, some of our nation’s most vulnerable children who needed immediate, specialized care were left without any options to access it.
It broke my heart to see children suffering needlessly simply because they did not have health insurance.
Now thanks to the Affordable Care Act, many of these children are getting the care they need to stay healthy.
The focus of the 11th Circuit’s case is whether one specific provision of the law — which in 2014 requires all individuals to purchase health insurance or pay a small penalty — is constitutional. Without this key provision, the law’s child health protections, including the ban on pre-existing condition exclusions, cannot take effect.
This lawsuit fails to understand the value of the Affordable Care Act for children.
An overwhelming majority of Americans have already taken responsibility for their own health insurance and automatically comply with the individual mandate provision because they have insurance through their employer, public programs such as Medicare or Medicaid, or because they purchased their own plan.
Health insurance works most effectively when everyone participates. An insurance market that doesn’t require healthy people to contribute to the very care they rely on when they become sick would cause premiums to spiral out of control, leaving many people who need insurance the most without access to any affordable care.
Requiring everyone to purchase health insurance balances this scale and makes possible important protections such as the ban on pre-existing condition exclusions for children.
Throughout my career as a pediatrician, I have seen the terrible consequences of families not being able to access timely and appropriate services because of inadequate health insurance.
This can become a thing of the past, but not without the law we all came together to pass just over a year ago.
Challenging the Affordable Care Act in a courtroom or in the halls of the Capitol is not the answer. Our children are better off because of this law, and we owe it to them to make sure it takes effect.
Dr. Jay E. Berkelhamer of Atlanta is a past president of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
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