Rep. Elaine Luria and Del. Jay Jones Hold Virtual Roundtable on Protecting Virginians’ Health Care During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Yesterday, Virginia Congresswoman Elaine Luria and Delegate Jay Jones held a virtual roundtable on the need to protect Virginians’ access to health care during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as Vice President Biden’s plan to protect and build on the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Members of the Norfolk-Virginia Beach community also discussed ways the ACA has helped save their lives.

More than 300,000 Virginians gained access to health care through the ACA. Late Thursday night, the Trump Administration filed a brief with the Supreme Court in favor of invalidating the ACA, despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic that has killed more than 120,000 Americans.

See below for key quotes from the roundtable:

“I think that we’re all here tonight because we believe in Joe Biden. We believe that this country needs to head in a very different direction. And I think that one of the critical things that differentiates Vice President Joe Biden from the current Administration is the fact that he cares. I recently came across an old poster, a campaign poster from the 1930s, when FDR ran, and the campaign poster said, ‘The man with a heart and the party with a soul.’ And we know that Vice President Joe Biden has been talking about the soul of the nation and I truly think that he is the man with a heart and the party with a soul and that’s exactly what our country needs right now. And you need to look no further than where he stands on health care and protecting and providing affordable health care for all Americans,” said Congresswoman Elaine Luria.

“But in stark contrast to what the Administration…is espousing as their goals, we know that Joe Biden will not only protect the Affordable Care Act, but he’ll build on it to make health care affordable for all Americans — because Joe Biden believes that health care is a right, not a privilege. He believes that we should reopen enrollment for Obamacare for the uninsured during this pandemic and that no matter who you are, COVID-19 testing, treatment, and any vaccine should be free of charge. And that’s the kind of leadership that our nation is crying out for. And as Vice President Biden was saying, this nation has been pulled together to conquer every crisis in our history, and there’s no question that we have the expertise, will, and spirit to overcome these crises now,” said Delegate Jay Jones.