16 Years of Progress Toward Reproductive & Health Justice
AMSA Reproductive Health Project eNews #67 – March 21, 2026
Greetings from the AMSA Reproductive Health Project!
This issue of the Newsletter focuses on the Affordable Care Act, which was signed into law 16 years ago, on March 23, 2010.Â
This historic bill established the first significant regulatory restrictions and requirements on health insurance companies – from elimination of “pre-existing conditions” coverage exclusions to the extension of the age up to which adult children can remain on their parents insurance, up to age 26.Â
In its 16 years on the books, in spite of so many attempts by the Republican Party to repeal it, all of which failed, the ACA has provided a path to affordable health insurance, and improved access to care for millions and millions of people. But even today, the Republican Party continues to use every play in the book to weaken it, most recently by refusing to extend the tax credits that further reduced the financial barriers to insurance coverage through the ACA Marketplace. Without the tax credit extensions, millions of people will no longer be able to afford even the most basic health insurance.
Nearly one in 10 people who had Affordable Care Act plans last year dropped health insurance altogether, after premium costs rose sharply because of the expiration of federal subsidies, according to a new survey. – Wall Street Journal
In spite of so much politicized rhetoric against the law, it is absolutely true that the ACA has benefitted every single one of us. One of the angles we want to highlight is the positive impact of the law on more equitable coverage of and access to healthcare, including reproductive healthcare, for women. Prior to the ACA, health insurance companies were legally allowed to discriminate against women in ways that reinforce the truth that when it comes to discrimination, the cruelty is the point: what else is it other than misogynistic cruelty to deny a woman health insurance coverage because rape, prior to the ACA, was labeled a “pre-existing condition”? Yes, really! For more WTF facts about pre-ACA reality, check out our posts on Instagram over the next few days @AMSA National.
The Affordable Care Act, historic as it was, has never been enough, because it is primarily a law of health insurance reform. The law is still premised on the legitimacy of the notion of for-profit health insurance companies – not to mention the entire notion of a for-profit health system.Â
So, there is still much work to do! We must continue to organize for truly transformative change in our healthcare system.Â
Universal healthcare in the United States is not a radical pie-in-the-sky fantasy.Â
Afterall, as of 2025, just over 70 countries throughout the world already provide some form of universal healthcare coverage to about 70% of the world’s population!
