Check out CHN’s statement on today’s historic Supreme Court ruling on the Affordable Care Act below. You can also download a PDF version of our statement. What did you think of the Court’s ruling? Let us know by leaving your thoughts in the comments section below.

Coalition on Human Needs Celebrates Supreme Court Decision on the Affordable Care Act;
Calls on Congress to Stop Impeding Law & on States to Continue Medicaid Expansion

The Coalition on Human Needs applauds today’s Supreme Court decision in the King v. Burwell case upholding the use of subsidies in the Affordable Care Act. On the issue of the tax credits that make health coverage affordable to millions of people, the Court reinforced that “Congress meant for those provisions to apply to every State,” regardless of whether or not the state set up its own exchange or is using the federal exchange. This means the 6.4 million Americans in 34 states who purchased health coverage through the federal marketplace with tax credits can keep their subsidies and their insurance without fear of skyrocketing prices.

The Affordable Care Act has provided a path to coverage for more than 16 million previously uninsured Americans and provides numerous important protections for consumers, including low-income and disadvantaged populations.  More than 1 in 3 people who were uninsured before the Affordable Care Act now have insurance. Today’s ruling by the Supreme Court – the Court’s second ruling in favor of the ACA – is great news for them and all Americans.

Now that this ruling is final, CHN calls on Congress to move forward – not backwards. Proposals like those currently in Congress to defund, block and repeal the law or portions of it – including proposals in House and Senate appropriations bills for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and Education that would defund the ACA – must be stopped. These proposals would strip health care from millions of Americans. This is simply unacceptable.

States that have not yet chosen to expand Medicaid also need to act to do so now. The Supreme Court previously ruled that states have the option (rather than a requirement) to expand eligibility for the Medicaid program to individuals living at up to 138 percent of federal poverty guidelines.  This has already expanded health coverage to millions of low-income, previously uninsured people in 30 states. The states that have not yet done so should expand their Medicaid programs now to ensure that their low-income residents have access to quality, affordable, life-saving health care.

[Photo credit: Jeff Kubina via Flickr]