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PROPOSED RESOLUTION
URGING CONGRESS TO PROTECT ACCESS TO QUALITY, AFFORDABLE HEALTH CARE PROVIDED TO MILLIONS OF AMERICANS AND THOUSANDS OF COOK COUNTY RESIDENTS BY THE PATIENT PROTECTION AND AFFORDABLE CARE ACT
WHEREAS, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, commonly called the Affordable Care Act ("ACA") was adopted in 2010 to dramatically reduce the number of uninsured Americans and improve overall public health for the American people; and
WHEREAS, the ACA protects our working families against health insurance discrimination and denial for pre-existing conditions, provides subsidies to working families to offset the cost of health insurance, incentivizes states to expand Medicaid coverage for the working poor, and requires coverage of basic family health care needs in health insurance plans; and
WHEREAS, the Congressional Budget Office ("CBO"), the nonpartisan budget-scoring agency, estimated that between 2010-2019 the ACA would yield a projected reduction in the Country's deficits of more than $150 billion over that period; and
WHEREAS, the ACA, over the last six (6) years, has cut the overall uninsured rate in the United States from 15.7% to 8.6% and, among those ages 18-64, from 22.3% to 11.9%, and reduced the number of uninsured at our County health system from 70% to 30%; and
WHEREAS, thanks to the ACA, more than 1 million people in Illinois get insurance through the ACA marketplace or the expansion of Medicaid, and through CountyCare, the Cook County Health & Hospital System ("CCHHS") which provides 140,000 Medicaid recipients with health care coverage, a number that could double in 2018; and
WHEREAS, the repeal of ACA would lead to a significant negative economic impact for Illinois as the Illinois Health & Hospital Association predicted the state could lose as much as $11.6 billion to $13.1 billion in annual economic activity, translating into a potential loss of 84,000 to 95,000 jobs, if Congress and President Trump repeal cove...
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