For Immediate Release: March 23, 2020
Contact: Lee Morrow, [email protected], 202-601-7871

10 Year ACA Anniversary in a Health Care Crisis
Sr. Simone: “Solutions are needed now, and the ACA guides the way.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – On this day in 2010, President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law. After years of struggle, we learned that our nation can come together and expand health care coverage to more than 20 million people who needed it. Learning from the struggle to pass the ACA, NETWORK has been working non-stop this past month to make sure families come first in any emergency bills responding to COVID-19.

The last 10 years of health care expansion have saved an untold number of lives and provided security to millions. In this time of crisis, we cannot let fear stop this progress. We must work together to respond in the current crisis, but respond in ways that will ultimately heal our nation through structural change. We have to protect the ACA from new attacks and build on its successes. Medicaid must be expanded in every state across the nation. No one should go uninsured.

Sister Simone Campbell, SSS, Executive Director of NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice said:

“The coronavirus has exposed the gaps that leave our nation vulnerable. Just like we did 10 years ago with the ACA, let’s mend the gaps.

“Solutions are needed now, and the ACA guides the way. Expanding Medicaid in every state will allow low income families to have access to the care they need. People with the coronavirus have a communal duty to seek medical help, and our nation has a communal duty to ensure that cost doesn’t get in the way of their diagnosis and treatment. This is an anniversary to celebrate AND use as a springboard to ensure that all of our people have quality, affordable, accessible, and equitable healthcare.”

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NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice – advocates for justice inspired by Catholic Sisters – educates, organizes, and lobbies for economic and social transformation. They have a nearly 50-year track record of lobbying for critical federal programs that support those at the margins and prioritize the common good. www.networklobby.org