Affordable Virginia, Advocates Call on Rep. Jen Kiggans to Protect Access to Affordable Health Care By Delivering 300+ Petition Signatures
In the Wake of Project 2025 Plans to Rip Away Key Components of the Affordable Care Act, Healthcare Leaders Called on Congressional Republicans to Reject the Extremism and Protect Affordable Healthcare
Virginia Beach, Va. – On Tuesday, local advocates delivered over 300 petition signatures calling on congressional Republicans including Congresswoman Jen Kiggans to oppose cuts to the Affordable Care Act, a historic piece of legislation that gave millions of Virginians access to health care.
The letter, organized by Affordable Virginia, is part of a vital push to hold Congresswoman Kiggans accountable for siding with corporations, rather than her constituents. Before the petition delivery, local and national advocates gathered for a press conference to express their concerns about where Congresswoman Kiggans stands.
“The Affordable Care Act has had a transformational impact for Virginians. Especially working families and those who were previously denied insurance coverage due to pre-existing conditions,” said Emily Yeatts, Campaign Director for Affordable Virginia. “Whether it’s the Republican Study Committee budget or Project 2025, congressional Republicans have made their intentions to cut our affordable healthcare clear. We are calling on Rep. Kiggans to reject these attempts and to fight for working families in her district who rely on these programs for basic healthcare access.”
“The Affordable Care Act saved my life. I walked into the Doctor’s office with a persistent cough and I walked out with a stage 4 cancer diagnosis,”said Laura Packard, Cancer Survivor and Founder of Voices of Healthcare Action. “I’m now one of over 1 million Virginians who have pre-existing conditions for life and one of 400,000 Virginians who rely on the Affordable Care Act and many of us are uninsurable without it.”
“If Republicans repeal the Affordable Care Act, health care would become a luxury only the rich could afford,” said Katie Baker, Virginia State Director for Protect Our Care. “The 700,000 Virginians who have benefited from Medicaid expansion would lose coverage, insurance companies would be allowed to charge women more than men, and refuse coverage to those with pre-existing conditions.”
“As a nurse I saw the life-changing difference the Affordable Care Act made for patients and the impacts firsthand for me and my husband, who has diabetes,” said Linda Bennington, a retired nurse in Virginia Beach. “I lost my employer-sponsored health insurance for me and my husband when I retired, and it cost me over $900 to buy just one month’s supply of medical needs for my diabetic husband. That’s why I’m so concerned about the repeated attempts to repeal the ACA. As a constituent of Congresswoman Jen Kiggans, I’m joining those who’ve signed the petition urging her not to gut the ACA.”
The ACA as a whole remains popular with Americans, a majority of whom cite health care costs as a top concern. According to recent polling, a majority of American adults want to expand the ACA rather than repeal it to increase access to quality care and lower costs even further.
Affordable Care Act by the numbers in Virginia:
Protections for over 1,300,000 Virginians with pre-existing conditions.
Quality, affordable coverage for over 400,058 Virginians who signed up for an ACA plan for 2024.
More than 59,000 Virginia adult children are able to stay on their parents’ insurance.
Medicaid expansion, which covers 739,411 people in Virginia.
Devastating Impacts of Repealing the ACA include:
2.3 million adult children under age 26 will no longer be able to stay on their parents’ insurance.
Allowing insurance companies to charge women more than men.
Insurance companies will no longer be required to cap annual and lifetime coverage.
Removing requirements that insurance companies cover prescription drugs and maternity care.
Removing protections for 135 million Americans with pre-existing conditions, including 54 million people with a pre-existing condition that would make them completely uninsurable.
Repealing medicaid expansion, which covers more than 22 million people.
Stripping over 15.5 million people who buy insurance on their own of quality, affordable coverage
Removing premium tax credits that make premiums affordable for 80 percent of people who purchase health care on the marketplace.
Removing the Medicare ‘donut hole’ fix, causing 49 million seniors to have to pay more for prescription drugs.
Cutting critical funding for rural hospitals.
Increasing costs and lowering quality of care for 61.5 million Medicare beneficiaries.
