With coverage for the Affordable Care Act kicking in for the more than 2 million Americans who have enrolled, there are still a number of lawmakers and Americans who believe the health care law should be repealed and defunded. However, a new report suggests that by doing so, some of the nation's people most in need of coverage could be adversely affected.
During the most recent economic recession, single mothers who worked for a living but were underemployed went without out employee benefits for a longer period than those who didn't work at all, according to a study from the University of Illinois.
The analysis found that, on average, underemployed single moms went without a health plan for approximately nine months.
Chi-Fang Wu, a professor of social work at the Champaign, Ill.-based university, indicated that repealing or defunding the ACA would risk this happening again.
"Our most important finding is that single mothers who 'play by the rules' by working, yet work part time involuntarily or in low-wage jobs, have a greater risk of being uninsured than mothers who do not work," said Wu, who led the research. "If the Affordable Care Act – also known as 'ObamaCare' – is defunded, this will likely continue. If society wants to 'make work pay' and ensure that single mothers are sufficiently healthy to pursue career goals and to care for their children, then Congress must continue provisions that provide universal health care coverage."
The ACA is still highly unpopular with the American public, as most surveys shows that more people are opposed to it as currently constructed. Supporters of the health law believe that now that the HealthCare.gov website's functionality has been improved, more consumers will come to like the plans that they have.
