NILC Applauds King v. Burwell Decision

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 25, 2015

CONTACT
Elizabeth Beresford, [email protected], 917-648-0189
Andrea Alford, [email protected], 703-477-1075
Nery Espinosa (Spanish language), [email protected], 214-263-1294

King v. Burwell Decision Signals Opportunity for Truly Inclusive Care

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled (PDF) against the plaintiffs in King v. Burwell, allowing the structure of the Affordable Care Act subsidy system to remain in place in all states. In doing so, the Court protected access to affordable health care for millions of low- and middle-income families across the country.

In response to today’s decision Marielena Hincapié, executive director of National Immigration Law Center, made the following statement:

“Today’s decision, both legally accurate and morally sound, means that millions of families will no longer be at risk of losing the ability to see a doctor when they are sick. Because of the Affordable Care Act marketplace, more than 10 million people live with the security of access to affordable health care, and stripping them of such care is both politically — and legally — indefensible.

“The Affordable Care Act represents a crucial first step toward fixing a too-long broken health care system, and we urge elected officials to leave their political attacks behind and instead build on the law’s promise. It’s time to look beyond simply implementing this important, but incomplete, law.

“All of us should be able to get the health care we need when we need it, and this includes immigrant families. Excluding any community is simply unwise, from both a policy and an economic perspective. We must look past the status quo and instead work toward a day in which all people, regardless of where they were born or how much money they may have, can buy the quality, affordable care they need. Only then will we create a truly healthy and prosperous America.”

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