Published by: Wright Lassiter on 1/24/2011 10:36:38 AM
Alameda County Medical Center joins hospital systems and organizations all over America in opposition to the repeal of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
Alameda County is home to 1.5 million residents. Of that number nearly 200,000 are uninsured. Alameda County Medical Center (ACMC) is the principal provider of care to those residents through our health system of hospitals and clinics. Our emergency medicine and trauma departments generated over 92,000 visits and more than 2,100 trauma activations in FY 2010.
As the recognized premier provider of medical care for all in Alameda County, ACMC understands its responsibility to ensure that the medically needy continue to have access to health care through comprehensive health coverage.
By maintaining the Act in its present form, Alameda County uninsured will obtain MediCal coverage by 2014. All individuals with incomes up to 133% of poverty, including single adults without children, will be eligible for MediCal - $14,404 individual and $29,326 for a family of four. Uninsured residents with incomes above the MediCal limit will purchase private insurance through state health exchanges. As many as 2 million new Californians will enroll in MediCal and another 2 to 3 million will obtain new private coverage. While the ACA in its current form does not provide universal coverage, 23 million or 8% of the US population will remain uninsured by 2019, it still expands coverage to 30 million who currently lack it.
Keeping the ACA intact allows Alameda County Medical Center to continue to play a critical role in Alameda County by:
- Providing care for the remaining uninsured
- As the largest teaching institution in the East Bay
- As the preferred trauma center for first responders
- As the base hospital for first responders in a disaster
- Providing primary care access for newly insured
Regardless of health status, people benefit from having a usual source of health care; those who do are more likely to receive preventive care, to access and utilize medical care when needed, not delay seeking care, and have lower rates of hospitalization and lower health care costs. We strongly urge members of congress to not repeal the Affordable Care Act.