LETTER: Decision saves millions of people

To the Editor:

The U.S. Supreme Court’s affirmation of President Obama¹s Affordable Care Act (ACA) is an necessary affirmation of America¹s moral obligation to promote the well-being of all its citizens.

If we are serious about our commitment to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” we need to be honest about the importance of health in this equation. A person, for instance, suffering from cancer without access to health care can have neither happiness nor liberty, not to mention life.

Wisconsin has already reaped significant benefits from the ACA. As enumerated in a recent letter sent out by U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl:

• Wisconsin seniors in the Medicare program have saved about $38 million in prescription drug costs.

• 43,000 Wisconsin young adults now enjoy extended coverage on their parents health insurance policies.

• 400,000 women in Wisconsin have access to preventive cancer screening through the ACA, and:

* No one in our state can be denied coverage because of pre-existing conditions.

We will all need to educate ourselves on various elements of the ACA scheduled to phase in by 2014. The web site www.healthcare.gov is a good place to start. There are many important benefits for us in the parts of the law yet to be enacted.

We need to demand that our state officials implement them in full compliance with the federal mandate.

Meanwhile, let’s applaud conservative Chief Justice John Roberts for casting his vote to uphold this landmark bill, which was supported in its passage by both our Senators Kohl and Feingold and Rep. Kind. In the opinion of the Philadelphia Daily News, “Roberts has saved millions of Americans from dying before their time.” That’s something every American can celebrate.

Thomas R. Smith

River Falls

Tags: letters to the editor, opinion