Affordable Virginia Launches Petition to Urge Rep. Jen Kiggans to Protect the Affordable Care Act
Virginia Beach, VA – Today, Affordable Virginia released a petition to urge Rep. Jen Kiggans to protect the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and oppose the gutting of the historic legislation that gave millions of Americans access to health care.
"The Affordable Care Act has been a cornerstone in ensuring that millions of Americans have access to quality health care. As a physician, I have seen firsthand the positive impact it has on my patients, particularly those with pre-existing conditions who would otherwise struggle to find coverage,” said Dr. Donald Lynch, a retired Virgina Beach urologist. “It is crucial that we safeguard this law and reject any efforts to weaken it. I urge Representative Kiggans to stand with her constituents and oppose any plans that threaten the essential protections provided by the Affordable Care Act.”
House Republicans recently released a dangerous plan to gut ACA coverage for Virginians. The plan would make massive cuts to the ACA: weakening protections for pre-existing conditions, leaving millions of people uninsured, and raising out-of-pocket health care costs.
Since the ACA's passage 14 years ago, Republicans have repeatedly attempted to repeal or scale back the bill, including attacking Medicaid expansion and protections for pre-existing conditions. Additionally, Donald Trump has reignited his calls to repeal the ACA, promising to overturn the ACA at least seven times last year, renewing interest by Republicans in Congress to eliminate these lifesaving policies.
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.
“The Republican threat to healthcare in Virginia is real and alarming. Virginians need answers and assurance that their access to healthcare will not be compromised,” said Emily Yeatts, Affordable Virginia Campaign Director. “We urge Representative Kiggans to stand up for the essential and basic healthcare needs of her constituents by protecting the Affordable Care Act and rejecting the House Republican plan to gut it.”
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 adult children in Virginia are able to stay on their parents’ insurance.
Medicaid expansion, which covers 739,411 people in Virginia.
We call on Rep. Kiggans to protect the Affordable Care Act and reject attempts to threaten healthcare access for over a million Virginians. Sign the petition here.
