Although the Supreme Court has upheld the Affordable Care Act, the law will not remedy the U.S. health crisis, physicians group says
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 28, 2012
Contact:
Garrett Adams, M.D., M.P.H., president PNHP
Andrew Coates, M.D., president-elect PNHP
Steffie Woolhandler, M.D., M.P.H.
David Himmelstein, M.D.
See Electronic Press Kit with selected spokesperson bios here. For contacts in nearly every state and major city, contact Mark Almberg, PNHP, (312) 782-6006, cell: (312) 622-0996, mark@pnhp.org, or see
www.pnhp.org/stateactions.
The following statement was released today by leaders of Physicians for a National Health Program (
www.pnhp.org). Their signatures appear below.
Although the Supreme Court has upheld the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the unfortunate reality is that the law, despite its modest benefits, is not a remedy to our health care crisis: (1) it will not achieve universal coverage, as it leaves at least 26 million uninsured, (2) it will not make health care affordable to Americans with insurance, because of high co-pays and gaps in coverage that leave patients vulnerable to financial ruin in the event of serious illness, and (3) it will not control costs.
Why is this so? Because the ACA perpetuates a dominant role for the private insurance industry. Each year, that industry siphons off hundreds of billions of health care dollars for overhead, profit and the paperwork it demands from doctors and hospitals; it denies care in order to increase insurers
