×
×
homepage logo
LOGIN
SUBSCRIBE

Congressional leaders vow to fight for ACA

By Staff | Jan 28, 2017

NASHUA – Three-quarters of New Hampshire’s congressional delegation vowed on Friday to do everything they could to keep medical benefits that Granite Staters have under the Affordable Care Act.

"We’re here to fight," U.S. Rep. Annie Kuster.

Kuster was joined by Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan, both Democrats, at a conference held in the new Northeastern Boulevard facility for Harbor Homes to discuss the way health care – in particular, recovery care for people dealing with addiction – will be affected if the Affordable Care Act is repealed.

Currently, the Republican majority in Congress is working to repeal the health care bill that gave more than 20 million Americans access to care. While President Donald Trump has assured voters that people will still be covered after the repeal, there is no viable plan for replacing the Affordable Care Act at the moment.

"This couldn’t come at a worse time," Kuster said.

New Hampshire is in the grips of an opioid addiction crisis that has only started to get better as more people are able to get into recovery treatment thanks to the ACA and New Hampshire’s expanded Medicaid program.

New Hampshire is second in the U.S., behind West Virginia, in overdose deaths, with close to 35 deaths for every 100,000 people, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control.

"The heroin and opioid epidemic is just one type of health care challenge that the ACA was designed to help us address," Hassan said.

New Hampshire residents with health care coverage are able to get care for mental health services and other conditions that were untreated before the law went into effect. Hassan said the ACA has been key to growing the economy. Business leaders told Hassan and state lawmakers that the ACA would mean a healthy workforce.

"That healthy workforce is critical to a healthy, strong and growing economy," she said.

Shaheen said she and all of New Hampshire’s lawmakers in Washington plan to work the best they can with the Republican majority to make sure that whatever replaces the ACA, there will be coverage for vital services such as addiction recovery.

"If we repeal this without a replacement, we’re saying to families, You’re stranded, you’re on your own," Shaheen said.

Damien Fisher can be reached at 594-1245 or dfisher@nashuatelegraph.com.

Newsletter

Join thousands already receiving our daily newsletter.

Interests
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *