The Affordable Care Act is working for Virginia

Crossposted at ProgressVA.

This Thursday, March 23, the Affordable Care Act will celebrate its two-year anniversary.  To mark the occasion, advocates across the Commonwealth will host events to highlight how the ACA has worked for Virginia.  These activities include a tweet chat on Twitter, campus speak-outs, community conversations and others where Virginians will share their personal stories about how the ACA has changed their lives.

The ACA’s benefits have been profound for our seniors, young adults, children, women, small businesses, consumers and communities.  Here are examples of how the ACA has helped Virginians get better health care, save millions of dollars and live healthier:

• Virginia’s seniors on Medicare have saved nearly $80 million on brand-name prescription drugs because of the ACA and more than 800,000 have received free preventative care services
• More than 1.5 million Virginians, including 410,000 children, can now get preventative care services without a co-pay
• Nearly 3,000,000 Virginians are now free of fear from lifetime caps on insurance coverage
• More than 60,000 of Virginia’s young adults now have health care coverage though their parents’ employer-provided health insurance
• More than 2,000,000 Virginians are better informed about the percentage of their premium dollars insurance companies actually spend on health care costs
• Virginians most in need have received critical health care through public health services and community-based clinics supported by more than $64.5 million in federal funding.

More below the fold.

Virginia’s ACA anniversary events are part of a national effort of 70 advocacy groups in 32 states.  In addition to ProgressVA, the following state and national organizations are participating in the state’s celebration:

The ACA is working for Virginians and Americans. It’s fixing our badly broken health care system, reducing fraud and corruption. It’s saving our seniors millions of dollars on prescription drug costs. It’s protecting our children with pre-existing conditions, our young adults and our uninsured, helping them get insurance and the critical health care they need. It’s helping those most in need get critical care, through grants to community health centers and expanded Medicaid coverage. We should all celebrate its two-year anniversary.