“Our nation will be healthier and families stronger and more economically secure because the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the challengers in King v. Burwell today. This case posed a direct threat to the health insurance subsidies that make coverage affordable for the roughly 6.4 million people in 34 states who enrolled in coverage through the federal marketplace. In refusing to undermine the law, the Court acted wisely and in the country’s best interests. We hope this decisive 6 -3 ruling finally puts an end to politically motivated, grossly irresponsible attacks on the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
Women, in particular, can breathe a sigh of relief today. Women are 54 percent of those purchasing coverage through the federal marketplace and would have been hurt the most by an adverse ruling.
The ACA has been an unqualified success. The rate of uninsured is at a historic low. Roughly 76 million people are benefitting from access to covered preventive care, including contraceptive services, with no additional out-of-pocket costs. The ACA finally made it unlawful to charge women more than men for the same health insurance policies, and to deny coverage to people with preexisting conditions. It extended coverage to millions of young adults who can now stay on their parents’ plans, and stopped a host of predatory practices that left families vulnerable when illness struck. And it has begun to arrest the skyrocketing health costs that punished families and destabilized our economy.
This law has been the greatest advance for women’s health in a generation and because of it, we are beginning to make the kinds of changes in our health care system that will yield better, more coordinated care, better health and smarter spending. We urge every member of Congress, every lawmaker and every politician to search their consciences and finally end the attempts to defund or derail the ACA. Attacks on the ACA are attacks on the millions of people who benefit from it. It’s time we work together to strengthen this essential law.”
