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Quality, Affordable Healthcare Essential to Lives of Millions with Lung Diseases and Pre-existing Conditions
American Lung Association Celebrates 10th anniversary of Affordable Care Act by highlighting lifesaving value of quality, affordable healthcare
(March 23, 2020) - CHICAGO
For more information please contact:
Stephanie Goldina
Stephanie.Goldina@Lung.org
312-801-7629
Today marks the 10th anniversary of the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). This landmark piece of legislation has extended healthcare coverage to more than 20 million Americans. The American Lung Association continues to champion the lung health of Americans by defending and expanding important protections for individuals with lung disease and other pre-existing conditions.
“As this current COVID-19 crisis shows, everyone needs quality and affordable healthcare, especially the more than 36 million Americans living with a lung disease,” said American Lung Association President and CEO Harold Wimmer. “No one should be denied healthcare due to a pre-existing condition. The American Lung Association calls upon Congress to ensure all patients have affordable, adequate and accessible healthcare.”
Today, millions of individuals, including many with preexisting health conditions, can obtain accessible, adequate and affordable healthcare coverage. In advocating for the lung health of Americans, the American Lung Association supports protecting and strengthening the Affordable Care Act. We affirm any changes to current law should preserve coverage for everyone who currently has coverage, extend coverage to those who remain uninsured, and lower costs and improve quality for all.
In addition to the patient protections, the ACA’s Medicaid expansion has helped increase early diagnosis in cancer patients, when survival rates are higher. Medicaid expansion has also reduced racial disparities for timely treatment for cancer patients, including those with lung cancer.
“On Wednesday, lung cancer patients and caregivers from all across our nation are meeting virtually with their members of Congress on behalf of the American Lung Association, including those patients whose health was supported through the Affordable Care Act,” Wimmer said. “We want to ensure that even during this pandemic, Congress hears from these Americans directly about the lifesaving value of quality and affordable healthcare.”
“The American Lung Association will continue to champion the lung health of all Americans and the critical need for quality and affordable healthcare, especially for those with a lung disease,” he said. “Because when you can’t breathe, nothing else matters.”
For media interested in speaking with an expert about lung health, tobacco use and tobacco policies, contact Stephanie Goldina at the American Lung Association at Media@Lung.org or 312-801-7629.
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About the American Lung Association
The American Lung Association is the leading organization working to save lives by improving lung health and preventing lung disease, through research, education and advocacy. The work of the American Lung Association is focused on four strategic imperatives: to defeat lung cancer; to improve the air we breathe; to reduce the burden of lung disease on individuals and their families; and to eliminate tobacco use and tobacco-related diseases. For more information about the American Lung Association, a holder of the coveted 4-star rating from Charity Navigator and a Gold-Level GuideStar Member, or to support the work it does, call 1-800-LUNGUSA (1-800-586-4872) or visit: Lung.org.
