The Picket Editorial: Affordable Care Act

We at the Picket want to express our support for the fundamental goals of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The ACA offers a plethora of advantages to traditional university students. Although the act has been tremendously controversial and was the ostensible reason for the recent government shutdown, we feel that students will be well served by its initiatives.

In what is the most important implementation for college age students, the ACA allows for individuals up to the age of 26 to be covered under their parent’s insurance plan, even if the individual in question is married. As most students of Shepherd University fall into that age bracket, it is easy to see how so-called “Obamacare” will be beneficial to traditionally money-strapped students.

The ACA also includes a mandate that marketplace providers offer free preventative care and screenings for domestic violence, alcohol misuse, depression, and HIV, which are areas that all specifically affect individuals under thirty. Additionally, women gain access to breast cancer and cervical cancer screenings free of charge.

Although there is an astounding measure of slanted rhetoric that has arisen around the ACA since its announcement several years ago, the truth of the act has muddled into bias as a result. The news article in this edition of The Picket, along with this editorial, present an attempt to communicate the positive effects of the ACA to the student body.

We recognize that there are arguments that can and will be raised against the ACA. Indeed, it is hard to declare that any plan presented through both houses of Congress to be a plan that is flawless. We feel, however, that the parts of the ACA targeted at the younger demographic are overwhelmingly positive and, further, encourage students to investigate and participate in the new system.

If any reader wishes to post a comment, see The Picket’s website for the story and comment forms. Readers who would wish to draft a response to the paper itself should draft a letter to the editor to picketchiefeditor@gmail.com.