Congresswoman Corrine Brown Comments on Supreme Court Decision in King v Burwell Case

(Washington, DC) Congresswoman Corrine Brown was very pleased that the Supreme Court once again upheld the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). With regard to the decision, the Congresswoman made the following statement:

"With today's decision, six and a half million Americans in 34 states, including 1.3 million Floridians, will be able to keep their health insurance. This is great news for our nation, especially for those who will continue to be able to receive quality medical care. In my state of Florida, the reality is clear: Obamacare is delivering on the dream of quality, affordable health coverage for Floridians.

Unfortunately, however, because Florida's state Republican House members and the Florida governor's ongoing refusal to accept Medicaid Expansion through the ACA, 800,000 Floridians remain without health insurance and will not benefit from today's ruling. In the words of the Jacksonville Times Union's Editorial Board: 'The stubborn refusal of the Florida House to pass a conservative, Republican-oriented Medicaid expansion plan is beyond contempt...there is a cruel irony, as well, since most of the people who voted no are receiving generous health insurance packages paid by the taxpayers...yet they are willing to allow about 800,000 of their fellow Floridians to go without this coverage.' If Governor Scott and House Republicans in the Florida state legislature truly care at all about providing health care to ALL Floridians, including the working poor, they need to approve Medicaid expansion for our state.

The Affordable Care Act has empowered millions of students, women, workers and families with dependable, portable and affordable coverage. Last year, nearly 7 out of 10 people who selected a plan through the Marketplaces found coverage for less than $100 a month with tax credits, the number of uninsured adults has dropped precipitously, and millions of families have obtained affordable health coverage.

Certainly, the Affordable Care Act does more than just give millions of uninsured Americans access to affordable health insurance, since it also helps Americans who already have insurance feel more secure in their coverage by ending some of the worst abuses of insurance companies and provides key new consumer protections and cost savings."

Thanks to the Affordable Care Act:

* No American can ever again be denied coverage for a pre-existing condition.

* No woman can ever again be charged a higher premium just because she's a woman.

* No American ever again has to worry that one major illness will mean bankruptcy for their family.

* No senior will ever again have to make a co-pay for key preventive services such as cancer screenings.

* No American will ever again face a lifetime limit on medical expenses.

* No American will ever have to pay more than $6,400 for out of pocket yearly medical and drug expenses ($12,800 for families).

"Yet apparently Republicans will never be satisfied until the Affordable Care Act is entirely dismantled. It is hard to understand why, given that millions of Americans benefit from accessibility to health insurance. Ironically, everyone who supports the ACA's demise has insurance themselves; they simply do not care if millions of their fellow Americans have to forego quality health care because they cannot afford it.

Yet in today's ruling, it was made clear that Obamacare is the law of the land and that it is here to stay. Contrary to the arguments of those who said that only those who live in states that have implemented state health exchanges should have access to tax credits to assist paying their insurance premiums, ALL Americans, regardless of where they reside, can legally receive premium tax credits, regardless of whether they live in a state that chose to set up its own Marketplace or chose to let the Federal Government set one up for it.

The challengers' argument in fact contradicts the language of the Act itself, as the ACA has such titles as 'Quality Affordable Care for All Americans,' and subtitles as 'Affordable Coverage Choices for All Americans,' not just those that live in specific states or those who live in a state that established its own exchange.

Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, more than 16 million Americans have gained health insurance who otherwise would be uninsured. Insurance companies can no longer deny coverage or discriminate against individuals based on pre-existing health conditions, which benefit an estimated 129 million Americans. In addition, according to a Congressional Budget Office analysis, a repeal of the law would add 19 million people in America to the ranks of the uninsured in 2016, rising to 24 million by 2021, as well as an increase in budget deficits by $353 billion over ten years.

Yet the cost to the deficit would be surpassed by the horrific human toll of Obamacare's repeal. Republicans apparently are dead set on adding over 20 million Americans to the ranks of the uninsured, while stripping vital health protections from millions of American families. It is long past time for Republicans to put an end to their obsessive crusade against the Affordable Care Act and work to assist Americans to obtain health insurance and quality health care, not spend their energy on turning back the clock to take away access to health care for millions of Americans."

Read this original document at: https://corrinebrown.house.gov/press-room/press-releases/congresswoman-corrine-brown-comments-supreme-court-decision-king-v-burwell