HARTFORD, Conn. — While Republicans double down on their plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Democrats remain united behind improving and effectively implementing health care reform. Already, Connecticut residents are seeing the benefits of the Affordable Care Act. In Connecticut, 1,555,000 people with pre-existing conditions, including 192,000 children, are protected from discrimination based on their health status thanks to the Affordable Care Act.

For the first time, because of the health care law, insurance companies will be prohibited from denying health coverage for the up to 129 million Americans with pre-existing conditions such as cancer, asthma, or diabetes. Insurance companies will also no longer be able to charge higher premiums based on health status or history. Since 2010, the Affordable Care Act has prohibited insurance companies from denying coverage to the up to 17 million children with pre-existing conditions. This protection is extended to adults beginning in January 2014.

Meanwhile, Republicans continue to oppose the Affordable Care Act, despite its benefits for Nutmeggers. In fact, their plan would repeal the Affordable Care Act and return us to a system where insurers could routinely deny coverage or jack up premiums for people with pre-existing conditions.

“The contrast on health care is clear: Democrats continue to fight to expand benefits and protections for people in Connecticut, while Tea Party Republicans shut down the government in a reckless and irresponsible attempt to take them away,” said Connecticut Democratic Party Chair Nancy DiNardo. “Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, more than a million people in Connecticut with pre-existing conditions, have protections that keep them from being denied coverage or charged higher premiums. Yet if Republicans had their way, protections like these would be taken away from people in Connecticut, and we would return to a health care system where insurers routinely denied people coverage because of a past illness. Democrats will continue to fight to ensure we expand and improve these benefits.”

Helping middle class families and American small businesses take advantage of the benefits of the health care law– like the security of affordable health care coverage and protection from discrimination based on pre-existing conditions– should be a top priority for lawmakers in Washington. Yet instead of working to fix the law, a minority in Congress has voted to repeal the health care law more than 40 times, even shutting down the government to prevent new benefits like ending discrimination based on pre-existing conditions, taking away peace of mind and threatening critical health care protections for more than a million people in Connecticut.

Background:

1.5 Million Non-Elderly Connecticut Residents Had A Pre-Existing Condition. According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Connecticut had 1,554,628 non-elderly residents with a pre-existing condition. [Centers For Medicare & Medicaid Services, 1/19/11]

Nearly 192,000 Connecticut Children Had A Pre-Existing Condition. According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Connecticut had 191,534 residents under the age of 18 with a pre-existing condition. [Centers For Medicare & Medicaid Services, 1/19/11]

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