WILLIAMSON
FOR
U.S. CONGRESS
DEMOCRAT
CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 6
“The Future Can Be Ours.”
480-607-9726
Dear Friend,
My main purpose for running for Congress is that I support the Affordable
Care Act. President Obama signed the bill into law on March 23, 2010. When
I ran for Congress in 2012, supporting the ACA was also my main platform
plank. Prior to the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, there were
44,000,000 Americans without adequate health insurance. Now, however, a
Gallup poll reports, “In the U.S., the uninsured rate dipped to 15.6% in
the first quarter of 2014, a 1.5-percentage-point decline from the fourth
quarter of 2013. The uninsured rate is now at the lowest level recorded
since late 2008.” (“In the U.S., Uninsured Rate Lowest Since 2008,” Gallup
Well-Being website, June 18, 2014, www.gallup.com.)
Here is what Rep. David Schweikert states on his congressional website
about the Affordable Care Act as of June 17, 2014: “The Affordable Care
Act has confused an already complex and wasteful healthcare system.
Americans need more choices and a competitive insurance marketplace, not
mandates. We all want a system where people are treated fairly and given
the support they need to remain healthy. We want those who become ill to
receive the best care possible and care that is
affordable.
“Imposing mandates on individuals and businesses while taxing procedures,
payment plans to doctors, and everyday medical devices is not a recipe for
improved healthcare access, affordability or quality. Improving healthcare
for every American starts by improving access to information so consumers
truly understand and can compare the costs.” (“Health Care,” Rep. David
Schweikert, June 17, 2014, www.schweikert.house.gov.)
Addressing the issue of mandates, David M. Cutler, Professor of Applied
Economics at Harvard, has written: “Additional data from Massachusetts,
where a state law was the precursor to the Affordable Care Act, suggests
that it is the fears that are overblown. Two studies, one by Jonathan
Kolstad and Amanda Kowalski and a second by Lisa Dubay, Sharon Long and
Emily Lawton, found very little adverse effect from the employer and
individual mandates on employment; workers valued the insurance greatly,
so the mandate was actually a benefit for them.” (“The Economics of the
Affordable Care Act,” David M. Cutler, New York Times, August 7, 2013.)
Further, Rep. Schweikert states on his website: “We need to focus on
reforms that improve affordability and provide flexibility not impose
mandates that result in lost jobs and threaten the economic security of
working Americans.” (www.schweikert.house.gov.)
Countering Rep. Schweikert’s claim that jobs will be lost because of the
ACA is Professor Cutler’s statement that he has, in testimony based on
work he did with another professor, “estimated that slowing cost growth
along the lines made possible by the Affordable Care Act would lead to
250,000 to 400,000 jobs gained annually over the next decade. The effects
would increase over time.” (“The Economics of the Affordable Care Act,”
David M. Cutler, New York Times, August 7, 2013.)
Moreover, Professor Cutler states that “Health care cost increases are at
the lowest level in the last half-century, and employer premium growth has
slowed markedly.” He adds: “My own work with Nikhil Sahni shows that the
Affordable Care Act is one factor in this slowdown.” (op. cit.)
Would you like to see more jobs created in our state? Contrary to David
Schweikert’s undocumented claim that the ACA will cause jobs to be lost,
Harvard professor David Cutler asserts that, based on his research, the
Affordable Care Act will bring into being, over the next ten years,
250,000 to 400,000 jobs EACH YEAR. This he infers from the fact that
increases in health care costs are at the lowest level in the last fifty
years. It is not at all as Rep. Schweikert would have us believe.
When elected your congressman on Nov. 4th of this year, I will continue my
support of the Affordable Care Act in every way. This landmark piece of
legislation is not only reducing the number of uninsured citizens in our
nation, but also lowering health care costs, which will result in more
jobs for not only Arizonans but all Americans.
If you would like to contribute to my campaign, please check out my
website at williamsonforuscongress.com. Click on “Make a Donation” and
dare to donate to your Democratic candidate who supports the Affordable
Care Act. You need not live in District 6 to contribute; you may even live
in another state. Donate via safe and secure PayPal on my campaign
website.
The Future Can Be Ours if we believe in and support the Affordable Care
Act in every way. It not only helps save lives and improves the health of
our citizens, but it reduces health care costs which creates jobs. That’s
good not just for our nation but for Arizona as well.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
John
W. John Williamson
Candidate for U.S. Congress, CD6
Scottsdale, Arizona