Sen. Tom Carper recently spoke about what’s at stake for veterans when the Affordable Care Act goes before the U.S Supreme Court in November.
The progressive veterans political organization VoteVets recently hosted Sen. Tom Carper and former Delaware Adjutant General Frank Vavala to discuss what could happen to vets if the ACA is struck down
Vavala says he’s not just worried about veterans’ losing healthcare, but the impact on families as well.
“We don’t need our service members having to worry about whether or not the care of a loved one needs to be covered by their insurance.”
Around half of vets in the United States aren’t enrolled in the VA healthcare system, meaning they get their healthcare through an employer, privately, or through the ACA exchanges.
Carper says the repeal of the ACA without a replacement could hurt over a third of all Americans.
“There are millions, tens of millions, probably 130 million people across the country who have pre-existing conditions - a lot of them are veterans. And the idea that those veterans and frankly the other millions of people who have a preexisting condition somehow they are not going to be able to get coverage or have to pay a lot more for that coverage, that’s just wrong.”
Carper adds President Trump has already stated he’ll only appoint judges that will quote “do the right thing, unlike Bush’s appointee John Roberts, on ObamaCare.”
Carper, along with fellow Sen. Chris Coons, have called for the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to be delayed until after the election. More than 17 million Americans have already cast their vote in the general election.
Republicans in the Senate and the Trump administration have promised a replacement to the Affordable Care Act as far back as 2016, but so far, no replacement has been offered up.
Carper urges veterans to tell their representatives how much the Affordable Care Act means to them.
