On January 1, 2014, many aspects of the NAACP-supported 2010 Affordable Care Act (also known as “health care reform,” or “Obamacare”) are set to take effect. Sadly, there are extremist Members of Congress – both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate – who remain opposed to the Affordable Care Act and continue to try to derail full implementation. As of August, 2013, the U.S. House of Representatives has held 40 votes to repeal or de-fund or otherwise demonstrably weaken the Affordable Care Act. In the U.S. Senate, there are extremists who are threatening to hold up all funding bills for the U.S. Government, effectively shutting the government down as of October 1, 2013, so that key provisions of the Affordable Care Act cannot be implemented on January 1, 2014.
The NAACP strongly supports full implementation of the Affordable Care Act and encourages every state, and every American, to take full advantage of its benefits. The NAACP further encourages politicians to stop wasting time, energy, and resources on fruitless efforts to defeat the much-needed and meritorious provisions of the Affordable Care Act and focus their attention instead on many of the very real problems facing our Nation today.
For more information about the Affordable Care Act, what it means to you and to our communities, please see the attached Issue Brief.
