Sangamon Sun

People dealing with pre-existing conditions will not only be covered by the Affordable Health Care Act (AHCA), they will be covered by insurance they can actually afford, U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis (R-IL) said recently.

"People would rather face a penalty than have Obamacare because they’ve seen the 31 million people who pay costly monthly premiums for plans with sky-high deductibles that drive up out of pocket costs,” Davis said. “Seventy-five percent of people in Illinois only have the choice of one or two insurance providers on the exchanges. That is not success.”

Davis said 29 million Americans still do not have insurance despite it being required by the Affordable Care Act. He said critics of the AHCA, which recently passed the House, are arguing that it allows states to opt out of current insurance requirements on pre-existing conditions in favor of high-risk pools, thus offering less protection against high costs.

“This is insulting to me as someone whose wife is an 18-year survivor of colon cancer – a specific form of colon cancer that is genetic and one I pray my children do not have,” Davis said. “…We promised the American people we would do whatever necessary to fix our broken health care system, and this bill is just the start. You will continue to see the House pass legislation that focuses on lowering costs and providing better options for all Americans.”