Guest Author
As a nurse in Florida, I had a front-row seat to the positives and negatives of the Affordable Care Act (or ACA).
Prior to the ACA, I saw young people kicked off their parent’s insurance, rendering them unable to afford health insurance.
Prior to the ACA, I witnessed far too many Floridians unable to get health insurance as a result of a pre-existing condition. Floridians deserved better than that, which is what they got under the ACA. The ACA increased access to health care for Floridians and undoubtedly saved lives.
Is it a perfect piece of legislation? Of course not!
Should we rip it up and start over merely because there are ways we could improve it? Not a chance.
The answer to solving our health care woes isn’t to swing drastically toward a single-payer system or throw the baby out with the bathwater and start over.
The answer to solving our health care issues is for members of Congress (on both sides of the aisle) to come together and put country over party. We need health care solutions and we need them now.
Millions of Floridians who depend on the marketplace to buy their health insurance can’t afford for politics to outweigh their health. As a nurse, I can personally attest to the improvements the ACA has made to our health care system.
Now it’s time to build on those improvements and create a health care system that all Floridians can be proud of.
___
Brenda Mattson is a registered nurse.
