CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The executive director of the West Virginians for Affordable Health Care says there is a great deal of uncertainty when it comes to the future the Affordable Health Care Act, also known as Obamacare, especially when threats have been made by the Trump administration to repeal and replace it.
“What’s going to happen to the 225,000 West Virginians who have been helped by the Affordable Care Act?” was just one of the many questions Terri Giles asked before the group held its annual fundraiser in Charleston Friday.
Giles told MetroNews the program has been a success in West Virginia, benefiting nearly 12 percent of the state population.
Because of the ACA, Giles said:
- 173,000 low-income West Virginians are covered through the expansion of Medicaid
- 37,000 are covered with private insurance policies purchased through the exchange
- 18,000 young adults are covered through their parents’ health insurance policies
Friday’s fundraiser was held at the University of Charleston’s Ballroom. Giles said the event was a call to keep, not repeal the ACA, but to improve the current law in order to secure health care coverage for thousands of West Virginians.
Giles said she knows there are parts of the ACA that can be tweaked.
“Never have we said that the ACA is perfect and we welcome the opportunity to work with members of Congress on improving it and replacing parts in it with something that’s better for West Virginia health care consumers,” she said.
There’s been a lot of fear in the state because, Giles said, the President-Elect Donald Trump has failed to inform the public on what he plans to replace the ACA with.
“It’s just irresponsible and wrong to say ‘well, we really don’t know what the replacement is going to be for new coverage or if there’s even going to be any at all, but trust us, we’ll come up with something better.’ That’s just not the way to run the railroad,” Giles said.
Several other areas of West Virginia have benefited as a result of the ACA, Giles said:
- $700 million a year goes to health care providers
- $265 million went to hospitals in 2016 for uncompensated care
- Preventive measures, like free contraceptives and mammograms were provided to women
- Average savings of $1,200 yearly for average Medicare beneficiary through closure of the prescription “doughnut hole”
Giles said, in general, it’s important to have a health care system that works well for everyone.
“It’s going to take a lot of thought, a lot of effort by people and less rhetoric from everyone,” she said.
The WVAHC encouraged those who could not attend Friday’s fundraiser, but want to contribute to their effort, to do so by visiting their website wvahc.org.