Fight efforts to sabotage health care

In the upcoming federal and state elections, voters should cast their ballots like their health care depends on it.

For those with preexisting conditions, that certainly is the case. The Trump administration is now arguing in court that the Affordable Care Act’s requirement that insurers cover preexisting conditions is invalid, along with other parts of the law.

It is the latest move by the administration to sabotage the ACA, following the repeal of the individual mandate in last year’s tax-cut legislation. The repeal and other changes approved by the administration are driving up insurance costs, threatening the health coverage of the 1.7 million Floridians and others who have obtained coverage through the federal marketplaces.

The changes will increase their premiums by about $1,000 next year, according to a report from the Center for American Progress. If the administration-backed legal action against the ACA succeeds, many more Floridians will be affected: about 7.8 million Floridians have preexisting conditions, including 280,000 residents of U.S. Rep. Ted Yoho’s congressional district.

Yoho, R-Gainesville, is among Republicans on the ballot this year who have supported the assault on the ACA without care of the consequences of those covered under it. While the act required that people with preexisting conditions such as asthma, cancer and diabetes can't be turned away by insurers, the Trump administration is actively working to end that requirement and ensure the only policies they’ll be able to buy are junk insurance that covers little.

While the ACA has reduced the ranks of the uninsured, many people still need health coverage. In Florida, the opposition to expanding Medicaid by Gov. Rick Scott and Republicans in the Legislature such as Sen. Keith Perry, R-Gainesville, means about 800,000 Floridians lack coverage who would otherwise have it under the ACA.

Nationwide, 33 states and the District of Columbia have chosen to expand Medicaid to cover more low-income residents who lack insurance — with Virginia being the latest to join the list. Florida Democrats picked Gainesville to launch their statewide campaign for Medicaid expansion with an event Tuesday that included one of Perry’s possible opponents in his state Senate race, Democratic candidate Dr. Kayser Enneking.

Enneking, a physician, rightly noted that leaving large numbers of people uninsured ends up costing everyone. The uninsured often wait until a health condition turns into a crisis and then use hospital emergency rooms for treatment, driving up health expenses for the rest of the public.

In a city with the hospitals and other health-care institutions of Gainesville, Medicaid expansion would mean more jobs. Most importantly, it would mean our neighbors whose lives are at risk due to a lack of insurance would get the coverage they need.

With Scott running for the U.S. Senate, Perry and Yoho running for reelection, and two Republicans who oppose Medicaid expansion running for governor, voters should keep in mind their stands against affordable health care. We need lawmakers that push back on the Trump administration's efforts to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, not facilitate them further.