By Richard L. Gaw
Staff Writer

State Rep. Christina Sappey recently joined 100 of her fellow House Democrats and a handful of Republicans in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives last week in passing four bills designed to write key tenets of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) into state law.

These bills – which are now headed to the Pennsylvania Senate for consideration - serve as a protective measure against the Trump administration’s threats to dismantle the ACA at the federal level, and if passed, would ensure the continuation of the following protections:

• Health Insurance Preventive Services Coverage Act: Requires health insurance policies to cover preventive health care services without cost-sharing;
• Health Insurance Protections Against Limitations Act: Stops insurance executives from capping coverage for essential benefits;  
• Health Insurance for Young Adults Act: Makes sure parents can keep their children insured until age 26; and  
• Health Insurance Access Protections Act: Protects coverage for pre-existing conditions.    

“I voted as a member of the House Insurance Committee and on the House floor to move these measures forward because it’s vitally important to my constituents to protect these provisions, particularly protecting coverage of pre-existing conditions,” Sappey wrote in an email to the Chester County Press. “Going back to when I first ran for office, affordable, accessible healthcare has been extremely important to residents in our area. I’ve continued to hear that over and over again, so I will always fight to protect this right.”

Signed into law in March 2010 by President Barack Obama, the ACA was designed to expand healthcare to millions of Americans – which at the time the health reform was introduced, included nearly 50 million uninsured people – or one out of every six Americans.  It created Medicaid eligibility, developed health insurance exchange for members, prohibited insurance companies from denying coverage for those with preexisting conditions and mandated that Americans either purchase or obtain health insurance. 

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services reported that 24.2 million consumers enrolled in ACA coverage for 2025, including nearly 4 million first-year enrollees – more than twice the number when compared to the 2021 open enrollment period. In 2024, about 435,000 Pennsylvanians were covered by ACA health plans, a 17 percent increase from the previous year and a 56 percent increase from 2020.

While it has provided a rising number of Americans with health care coverage over the 15 years it has been enacted, ACA continues to draw the opposition of those who object to the tax increases and higher insurance premiums needed to pay for coverage. The most vociferous detractor of the ACA has been President Donald J. Trump, who has long expressed his displeasure for the ACA and has repeatedly called for a complete overhaul of the law, saying it is too expensive and is an example of government’s overreach.

“The cost of Obamacare is out of control, plus, it’s not good Healthcare,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Nov. 25, 2024. “I’m seriously looking at alternatives. We had a couple of Republican Senators who campaigned for 6 years against it and then raised their hands not to terminate it. It was a low point for the Republican Party, but we should never give up!”

Critics of Trump’s willingness to dramatically change health care laws in the U.S. could possibly curtail reduce Medicaid, raised rates for the uninsured, weaken patient protections and increase premiums. While Trump’s plans to weaken Obamacare have drawn opposition, many lawmakers are aligned with the president’s idea, which when added to both the House and Senate currently being Republican controlled could lead to a massive overhaul of the health care plan.  House Speaker Mike Johnson took a dig at Obamacare at an event in Pennsylvania last October, saying that the ACA needs “massive reform.”

“I find this administration’s current attack on healthcare to be extremely reckless,” Sappey wrote in response. “No one will argue against looking into ways to save money, increase efficiency and effective healthcare outcomes, but this is not a thoughtful audit, it’s a likely gut to a system that millions rely on to stay healthy, and a healthy society is far more cost effective than an unhealthy one. 

“Those of us who voted to protect the ACA in our state if the federal government repeals it understand this and stood up for our constituents.” 

To contact Staff Writer Richard L. Gaw, email [email protected].