On Thursday U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-5) said he voted for the 37th time against a partisan attempt to repeal all or part of the Affordable Care Act.

This is the House Majority’s 37th vote in the last two years to repeal the health care law and take away the patient protections it provides. The 37 votes have cost taxpayers more than $52 million, according to Thompson’s office.

“This is a shameful waste of time and taxpayer dollars,” said Thompson. “Instead of spending more than $50 million to repeal a law that is saving lives and money, we should be working to improve our health care system and expand on the benefits the law provides.

“It’s time to put these political games aside. By building on the reforms made in the Affordable Care Act, we can make sure every American can afford to go to the doctor. And that’s what matters.”  

Since the ACA was signed into law in 2010, more than 800,000 jobs have been created in the health care industry.

The law has made investments to increase the number of health care providers and strengthen the primary care workforce. Specifically, it makes investments to help alleviate the current shortage of primary health care providers, including physicians, physician assistants, and nurses.

According to the latest available estimates by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the health care law is also expected to reduce the federal deficit by $109 billion over the next 10 years and over $1 trillion over the following decade.

The law is also saving money for consumers and slowing health care spending. Since the ACA was enacted, the growth in overall health care spending and Medicare spending has decreased to record lows. As a result, Medicare and Medicaid will now spend $700 billion less over the 10-year period from 2011 through 2020 than previously projected.

And, last summer nearly 13 million Americans benefited from $1.1 billion in consumer rebates provided by the ACA.  

Insurers were required to provide rebates if they failed to spend at least 80 percent of premiums on health care.

Other patient protections are also in place in the ACA are:

• Women can no longer be dropped by their insurance company if they become pregnant.
• Young adults can now join or stay on their parents’ health plan until their 26th birthday, if they do not have coverage of their own.
• Children younger than age 19 can no longer be denied coverage by an insurance company for having a pre-existing condition; starting next year, no one can be denied coverage due to a pre-existing condition.
• Small businesses can receive tax credits if they choose to offer coverage to their employees.
• Privately-insured Americans can no longer be dropped from coverage by their insurance company because they get sick, and their insurance company can no longer place a lifetime limit on their coverage.

Thompson represents California’s 5th Congressional District, which includes all or part of Contra Costa, Lake, Napa, Solano and Sonoma counties.