March, 31 2014, 02:19pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020, (202) 421-6858; or David Zupan, (541) 484-9167
ACA "Conscientious Objector"
WASHINGTON
CBS News reports: "March 31 has finally arrived, and with it comes the last official day for people to sign up for health insurance on the federal exchange websites."
"MARGARET FLOWERS, M.D., (410) 591-0892, mdpnhp@gmail.com, @MFlowers8
Flowers is a pediatrician in Baltimore and co-director of ItsOurEconomy.us. She just wrote the piece "Why I Am A Conscientious Objector To The ACA," which states: "I have been an outspoken advocate for a Medicare for all health system. During the health reform process, I did all that I could to push for single payer, including being arrested three times for civil disobedience. I was one of fifty doctors who filed a brief in the Supreme Court which expressed opposition to forcing people to buy private health insurance, a defective product. It pains me to see that the Affordable Care Act siphons billions of public dollars to create more bureaucracy and transfers hundreds of billions of public dollars directly to the private insurance industry when I know that those dollars should be paying for the health care that so many in our country desperately need.
"I am currently uninsured, so I have to make a choice. I don't qualify for Medicaid and I'm too young for Medicare. By law, I am required to buy private insurance or pay a penalty. But I find myself in the position of not being able to do either. I can't in good conscience give money to the health insurance industry that I am fighting to eliminate. And I can't in good conscience pay a tax penalty that will be given to that industry. So, I am going to be a Conscientious Objector to the ACA. ...
"Focusing solely on the number of people who are insured is what the private health insurance industry wants the public to believe is most important. The industry spent tremendous amounts of money and time to get a law that would force people to buy insurance in order to protect and enhance their assets. They want everyone to buy their products and to make people feel reckless or irresponsible if they don't. This is a massive campaign to distract people from asking the questions that really matter, such as whether people with insurance will be able to afford health care, whether bankruptcies from medical debt will continue and whether overall health outcomes will improve.
"In the United States, having health insurance does not guarantee access to necessary health care. In fact, rather than creating health security, the ACA is degrading health care coverage in the U.S. It is also creating the largest transfer of public dollars to a private industry ever, as UNITE HERE reports, 'most of the ACA's $965 billion in subsidies will go directly to commercial insurance companies.'"
Flowers recently debated Dean Baker on the ACA on The Real News.
A nationwide consortium, the Institute for Public Accuracy (IPA) represents an unprecedented effort to bring other voices to the mass-media table often dominated by a few major think tanks. IPA works to broaden public discourse in mainstream media, while building communication with alternative media outlets and grassroots activists.
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