Health law protects Americans’ well-being

I am a nurse at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.

Two years ago, Congress passed and President Barack Obama signed historic health care reforms into law - a single action that improved the lives of millions of Americans, even though half of all Americans do not know the facts about the law or the protections it delivers.

I have worked to change that by helping patients to understand the benefits of the health care law. There are no more lifetime limits on care, insurance companies cannot drop patients who get sick, people with pre-existing conditions cannot be denied coverage, preventive care like cancer screenings and checkups are free and young adults can join or stay on their parents' plan until they are 26. For the patients I care for, these benefits have made all the difference.

I am disappointed that instead of recognizing how far we have come thanks to the law, there is a wave of misinformed political rhetoric about repealing it. As a nurse, I simply cannot understand the nostalgia for the days when insurance companies dropped those who were seriously ill, young people were kicked off their parents' insurance at age 18 and being a woman of childbearing age was considered a pre-existing condition.

Nurses across Iowa and the nation will continue to advocate support for the Affordable Care Act because it protects the health and well-being of millions of Americans.

Mary Burke

Lisbon