Good question. Often those of us in public health tend to focus on the importance that access to care has in public health outcomes. But we also know that having a robust economy that provides opportunities is a key driver in the social determinants of health that dramatically impact health status of populations.
The Children’s Action Alliance commissioned the W.P. Carey School of Business at ASU to study the economic impact of removing the federal funds that are coming into Arizona as a result of the Affordable Care Act. Among the report’s conclusions is that if all federal and state ACA-related funding including tax credits were eliminated, the Gross State Product in AZ would decline by $5 billion with a loss of $3.5 billion in personal income. Employment losses in all sectors would be about 62,000 with the health care sector losing 29,000.
The 25-page report has a host of results that demonstrate repealing the ACA’s healthcare funding provisions would do more than just reduce access to care, it would result in impacts to Arizona’s economy that would affect those social determinants that are so important to maintaining population health.
Some members of the U.S House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate have vowed to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. A key public health question is “what does replace mean and what does it look like”. If you’d like to have your voice heard, you can take action now by using this APHA tool to send your message to Senators McCain and Flake and your Representative (based on the address you use).
The time to voice your opinion is now!
