Anchorage, Alaska– Today, University of Alaska students sent a clear message to the Alaskan Congressional Delegation that repealing the Affordable Care Act without a replacement proposal would be disastrous to Alaskans.
A student group called What’s The Plan? has launched, including Republicans and Democrats, students whose families bought health insurance for the first time through the exchange, students who are on medicaid, part-time students on medicaid, and students who rely on the opportunity to remain on their parents’ health insurance until they are twenty-six.
What’s The Plan? is circulating an online petition via email and facebook asking Senators Murkowski and Sullivan and Congressman Young to refuse to repeal our current healthcare system without a clear plan for replacement.
“I am a UA student working my way through college and am on my parents health insurance, per the provision of the ACA that allows children to remain on their parents’ insurance till age twenty-six. If Congress wants to take that away, that’s fine, but I need to know what their plan is so I can plan for myself. This idea that they’ll shoot first and come up with a plan later is crazy.” – Genevieve Mina, UAA Debate Team
In Alaska alone, 62,000 Alaskans will lose their health coverage, which represents a 53% increase in the number of uninsured Alaskans. Additionally, 16,000 Alaskans will lose an average advanced tax credit of $750 per month should the ACA be repealed without a replacement. Alaskans would also lose $1.9 billion in federal financial assistance, as well as $1.3 billion in federal Medicaid or children’s health insurance programs which provide medical care to 162,366 Alaskans.
“I am a college student in a family where health insurance has been one of our biggest monthly costs. Being able to buy insurance through the Obamacare exchange lowered our health insurance costs by more than half, while providing more coverage than we had before. I need to know what Congress plans to do about our healthcare system so we can budget accordingly.” – Kaylin Jones, Double Major in Civil Engineering and Mathematics
The group said, let’s be clear – a vote for the bill that repeals the Affordable Care Act without a replacement plan is a vote to:
- Take insurance away from 30 million Americans, 82% of whom are in working families.
- Cause healthcare premiums to increase by more than 50% for millions of Americans.
- Increase taxes by more than $3,000 on millions of people who purchase their own insurance by abolishing health care tax credits.
- Give hundreds of billions of dollars in tax breaks to the wealthy, insurance companies, and drug manufacturers, while eliminating tax credits for millions of working families.
- Double the number of uninsured children in America, leaving an additional 4 million children uninsured.
“While I certainly believe there are parts of the ACA that need to be repealed, this needs to be done according to a clear long term plan that allows for a smooth transition and protects Alaskans. If Congress takes action without a clear plan, Alaskans have no ability to plan for the future. For college students about to graduate, this impacts our families, our career choices, and whether we can afford to stay in Alaska at all. We urge the delegation to prioritize Alaskan families over politics and produce a plan for our health care.” – Chaz Rivas, Republican, Chair of the UAA Politics Society
More information can be found at facebook.com/WhatsThePlanUAA
You can sign the petition at: https://goo.gl/forms/o1cZieJXcIn4pP9M2
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