As the talk grows in Washington about dismantling and/or privatizing nationally supported health care programs, including Obamacare, or the federal Affordable Care Act, and Medicare, we remind our readers that the health and lives of countless individuals and families have been made better because of such programs. Destroying these programs will have a deleterious impact within Richmond, the state and the nation.

Obamacare has made health care affordable and accessible to millions of people, some of whom never visited a doctor, or put off essential basic health checkups and annual screenings, because they had no insurance and could not pay. Others sought care through local emergency rooms only when health problems became a crisis.

Since enrollment for Obamacare re-opened on Nov. 1, more than 92,000 Virginians have signed up for health coverage that begins in January. Across the nation, more than 2.1 million people have signed up on www.healthcare.gov, according to federal officials.

Under Obamacare, people can’t be denied coverage or charged more because of pre-existing conditions. Young adults can stay on their parents’ health insurance plans until age 26, and routine health screenings and vaccines, as well as contraceptives and birth control counseling, must be provided without co-payments.

It is easy for many people to hang onto a slogan or ride the wave of a new administration in denouncing and destroying Obamacare. But the lives and health of quite literally millions of people may hang in the balance.

Keep your antenna up about any changes and be ready to speak out about how this would impact your life or those of your loved ones.