affordable care act

American Heroes: Ryan Case from Colorado on Health Care - 2012 Democratic National Convention

It's the summer's special Mailbag Edition of West Wing Week, featuring Elizabeth Olsen, Director of Presidential Correspondence. This week we're taking a moment to pick out a few of your letters from the thousands that arrive everyday here at the White House and answer some of your questions on immigration, healthcare, and the economy.

VAN HOLLEN: Romney-Ryan Would Turn Medicare Into Vouchers, Increase Costs For Seniors

By Steve Brown

When the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) was passed in March 2010, its authors had states like Texas in mind.

Texas is unique in that it’s the only state that has the most advanced, but least accessible medical systems in the nation (if not world).

The number of uninsured Texans has overwhelmed our healthcare infrastructure and economics for the last two decades.

The ACA reduces skyrocketing health costs by increasing access to health insurance. By doing so, the uninsured would be able to receive quality preventive care to help them manage and early diagnose chronic illness instead of receiving expensive primary care in emergency rooms. The costs associated with uncompensated care are paid for by local tax payers, employers and the insured. One emergency room visit by an uninsured patient costs $1300. Multiply that by 5 million uninsured Texans, and you’ve just stumbled upon Texas’ Health Care crisis.

All Texans would benefit from health care reform – and that includes Texas businesses.

This ad that calls out Mitt Romney for wanting many Americans to receive worse treatment than a horse. We want Rafalca, and all our Olympic athletes, to bring home the gold, but we won't stand for Mitt Romney shipping jobs overseas. And it's great that Rafalca gets excellent care, but Mitt Romney trying to cut Americans' health care? Well, that's a horse of a different color.

Republican governors aren't telling the truth about health care reform. Visit DemocraticGovernors.org to get the facts.

With the new health care law, more good things are coming -- free checkups, lower prescription costs, and better ways to protect us and Medicare from fraud. See what else is new -- I think you're going to like it.

At 26 years old, Erica was denied health insurance due to a pre-existing condition. But thanks to the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP) under the Affordable Care Act, health care is in Erica's hands.