If you read Thursday’s U.S. Supreme Court decision on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act as anything, read it as a victory for the more than 2 million Coloradans who have gained access to health care or expanded access to services they have always needed.
Read it as a victory for the 46,000 young adults in the state who have been able to stay on their parent’s health insurance until age 26. Read it as a victory for the 1.2 million of Colorado’s women and children who no longer need to worry about lifetime limits on their health care coverage. Read it as a victory for the 291,000 children in Colorado with pre-existing conditions that will never be denied health insurance.
Far from the political rhetoric that has dominated the debate about health care reform, real Coloradans have begun experiencing the benefits of the new law. For two years now, Obamacare has expanded access to preventative care, provided prescription drug rebates for thousands of seniors, and enabled individuals with pre-existing conditions to get the health care they need.
Our state has worked for years, in a bipartisan manner, to improve the affordability, access and quality of our health care system. That good work, coupled with Obamacare, has helped to fill the staggering gap between Coloradans who had health care and those who did not. Rural and medically underserved areas of Colorado have received $53 million to expand and serve more patients, and will receive more in the future. Obamacare is saving Coloradans more than $25 million in insurance rebates and in 2011 alone, 39,000 Colorado Medicare recipients saved over $22 million on their prescriptions.
All of the above — and more — has happened in just two years, well before all the law’s provisions have been fully implemented.
Over the coming days and weeks, you’ll hear a lot about Republicans and Democrats, elections and politics. You’ll also hear more and more about the real lives Obamacare has changed and the Coloradans it has and will help. When you are evaluating all of this, I urge you to remember that first and foremost, the goal of health care reform is not political. The goal of health care reform is to offer to each one of us the security and peace of mind that access to quality, affordable health care can bring.
Elisabeth Arenales is director of the health care program for the Colorado Center on Law and Policy.
