Congressman Suozzi Celebrates American Care Act Anniversary At Glen Cove Hospital

On March 23, a rainy Saturday morning, Congressman Tom Suozzi gathered at Glen Cove Hospital to celebrate the Affordable Care Act with medical directors, local leadership, and families who benefitted from increased access to health insurance.
Fourteen years ago, on March 23, 2010, former President Barack Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law.
According to White House Archives, the Affordable Care Act improved everyone’s access to affordable health coverage, protecting consumers from abusive health insurance practices.
Consumer rights and protections included an end to discrimination based on pre-existing conditions, a limit on care, and coverage cancellations. The law also allowed young adults to stay on their parent’s plan until they were 26.
To learn more about the Affordable Care Act, visit obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/healthreform/healthcare-overview.
“Under the Affordable Care Act, you can’t discriminate against people who have a pre-existing condition,” Suozzi explained. “People have more access to life-saving, preventative care. Americans are protected from annual and lifetime limits to coverage.”
Suozzi further explained that despite the benefits of the American Care Act, health insurance and medical care costs are expensive.
“We have to figure out, especially at a time that people are so concerned with the cost of living, how can we reduce the cost to people related to their health care,” Suozzi said.
On the same day, former President Obama joined President Joe Biden and Speaker of the House Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi to recognize the anniversary of the Affordable Care Act.
“There is nothing I’m more proud of than the ACA,” Obama said. “It can be easy to forget these days, but passing the ACA was hard. Health insurance companies were resistant to change. Most Republicans didn’t want to work with Democrats on anything, but for the three of us, giving up wasn’t an option because we had too many people who needed help…”