On the 12th anniversary of its enactment, the Young Democrats of America celebrate the achievements of the Affordable Care Act, which has given health coverage without limits to millions more Americans. The landmark legislation has paved the way to improve the health of all, from women and families to older adults to people with disabilities to LGBTQIA+ folks and communities of color. Thanks to the work of President Barack Obama, then Vice-President Joe Biden, and the Democrats in Congress at that time in 2010, we have seen enormous strides in health care and coverage for all Americans, from expanding medicaid to covering reproductive health to putting protections in place for pre-existing conditions.

We commend the Biden-Harris Administration for wanting to expand on the success of the ACA, because YDA recognizes that this is in fact only a foundation. The global pandemic and the millions of dollars in medical debt that has been piling up for many working families in America is proof that we have much more work to do. YDA is firmly in favor of pursuing all avenues that will help achieve a universal, single-payer healthcare system.

The United States should strive to have one of the highest ranking healthcare systems in the world. This would include a development a national response framework to plan for and manage national-level crises, increase funding for state public health activities to add staff for addressing other ongoing problems such as the opioid crisis, and to cross-train such staff in contact tracing to provide a surge capability for pandemics, coverage of comprehensive mental health care, putting caps on essential prescription drug costs, and continuing to not only make health care affordable and accessible, but guaranteed for all like the vast majority of countries in the world.

Healthcare is and will always be a human right and YDA will continue to work to make sure that is realized.

Until justice,

Matt Royer

YDA Communications Director

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