Featured photo: Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist shakes hands with President Joe Biden
Photos courtesy of L. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist’s social media pages
Written by Tanya Terry
Almost everybody in the country, in Genesee County and in Flint is impacted by the Affordable Care Act in one way or another, according to Lt. Governor of Michigan Garlin Gilchrist.
“It is such a comprehensive piece of policy that President Obama and Vice President Biden were able to get across the finish line,” Gilchrist added. “Look at the fact that every child whose parents have health insurance can stay on their parent’s health insurance until they’re 26 years old because of the Affordable Care Act. Every person who has a pre-existing condition, which basically is anybody who ever got sick or had a major injury, cannot be kicked off their health insurance or charged more for their health insurance. That was not true before the Affordable Care Act was signed into law. Everyone now has access to free mental health screenings and appointments or free cancer screenings. It’s because of the Affordable Care Act. That means we all benefit from this, and we all stand to lose something if the Affordable Care Act is ripped away from the people of Genesee County…”
Gilchrist pointed out that when Donald Trump was president the government was one vote away from taking away the protections and benefits he described.
He also stated President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will make sure the Affordable Care Act gets stronger and includes more people, if re-elected.
“Let’s say you became diabetic, lost your job and lost your health insurance that was associated with your job,” said Gilchrist. “In a world where there’s no Affordable Care Act, it would be significantly more expensive for you to get new insurance, or you might not get new insurance at all because of your condition of being diabetic. Because of the Affordable Care Act, you have access to your full care.”
Another piece of the Affordable Care Act legislation ensures health care documents and policies have to be written in way most people could understand it more easily, rather than in very technical or legal type of language.
“That’s another way the Affordable Care Act makes healthcare more accessible to people. You should be able to understand your health insurance, and you shouldn’t have to pay for something you don’t understand.
“If the Affordable Care Act is ripped away thousands of women will lose access to free birth control.”
Under the Biden Administration, the cost of insulin has been capped at $35 for seniors. Gilchrist stated that disproportionately, positively impacted Black seniors living on Medicaid. He added the Biden Administration would like to go a step further and cap the cost of insulin for Americans of all ages.
Gilchrist said many Black people, such as those in families like his own, must learn to live with diabetes.
Gilchrist said the Biden Administration has fought so that Medicare can negotiate the prices of prescription drugs.
“They’re done a lot and are ready to do more.”
Gilchrist said a plan to take away the Affordable Care Act would be “incredibly reckless, incredibly dangerous and irresponsible.”
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Gilchrist chaired for the Michigan Coronavirus Taskforce on Racial Disparities.
“Black folks in Michigan, Black folks in Flint and Genesee County, were dying at a rate of five times our white counterparts and our white neighbors. We had to take action, and we did. One of the most important things we had to do was to make sure people who did not have health insurance, did not have primary care physicians, did not have access to medicine – that they could get access…The infrastructure that we were able to use to connect people to care and connect people to insurance – was the infrastructure provided by the Affordable Care Act. We would not have been able to save lives. We would not have been able to eradicate the health disparities and be the only state in the country able to do so – without the support of the Affordable Care Act. This is real about saving Black lives in the state of Michigan, the lives of people of color in the city of Flint.”
