By: Team Sherrod

In 2010, Americans across the country breathed a sigh of relief as the Affordable Care Act became law, giving millions peace of mind and quality care.

The law has saved lives, ensured more than 5 million Ohioans with pre-existing conditions could no longer be charged more for their care, and removed lifetime limits for health insurance claims, benefiting 4 million people in the state.

But this administration and leaders in Congress have put a lot of effort into sabotaging the Affordable Care Act, through repealing the individual mandate, cutting down the time frame for consumers to sign up for plans, proposing changes to the system that make would weaken markets, and more.

These aren’t just political moves—they have real-life consequences for hardworking families, making it harder for them to access the care they deserve. Take a look at how the GOP’s work to undermine the law is having a major impact, from just a few news sources:

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“The study finds that the combination of repealing Obamacare’s individual mandate and expanding access to cheaper, skimpier health insurance policies known as short-term plans will lead to the premium increase.”

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“President Trump’s former top health official on Tuesday said the Republican tax law would raise the cost of health insurance for some Americans because it repealed a core provision of the Affordable Care Act. … Price’s comments are in line with predictions from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, which in November projected 13 million fewer Americans would have health insurance by 2027 as a result of the elimination of the individual mandate.”

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“These short-term plans—which could last up to a year under the Trump administration’s proposed new rules—also threaten to further weaken insurance markets around the country and drive up costs for sicker Americans who need health plans that offer a full set of benefits, such as prescription drugs, maternity care or mental health and substance abuse services.

That would erode the health law’s guarantee that access to insurance would no longer depend on a person’s health.”

—“A new survey this morning from The Commonwealth Fund, a liberal think tank, finds that 36% of people covered through the exchanges, and 27% of people covered through the Medicaid expansion, are afraid their coverage won’t be there in the long run.”

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“According to the analysis, the largest single impact will come from eliminating, starting in 2019, the ACA’s penalty for Americans who violate the law’s requirement that most people in the United States carry health coverage. That change alone, part of a massive tax bill Congress adopted in December, can be expected to increase premiums by 7 to 15 percent next year, depending on the state, and as much as 10 percent each of the following two years.

Also contributing to the escalating rates are the Trump administration’s decisions to shorten the sign-up time for consumers to buy ACA health plans and to severely curtail marketing and other activities to encourage people to sign up.”