Shaheen Statement on SCOTUS ACA Case
(Washington, DC) – U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) today released the following statement after the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed a case that challenged the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act.
“For millions of Americans, the fate of affordable health care hinged on this case, which is why I’m so relieved that the Supreme Court made the right decision today. The Court’s ruling to preserve the ACA safeguards critical health care protections for thousands of Granite Staters and millions more throughout the country. If the Court had struck down the ACA, it would have delivered a crushing blow to New Hampshire families, many of whom have relied on the ACA as their lifeline to access care during the deadly pandemic. But even before COVID struck, the critical health care law helped hundreds of thousands of Granite Staters by enshrining protections for pre-existing conditions and bringing down prescription costs. Just as important, this ruling preserves our state’s Medicaid expansion, which extended care to more than 50,000 New Hampshire residents, including thousands of Granite Staters struggling with substance use disorders. Families can breathe a sigh of relief that the biggest threat to their health care has been thwarted. With this partisan court challenge to the ACA behind us, now is the time to get back to work to improve the health care law by reducing premiums and out-of-pocket costs for American families.”
Shaheen has led efforts in Congress to protect and improve the ACA, including leading all 47 Senate Democrats on a Senate resolution that would reverse the Department of Justice’s decision to side with U.S. District Court Judge Reed O’Connor’s ruling that would strike down the health care law. Senator Shaheen also spearheaded Senate Democrats’ proposal to make health care affordable and accessible for Americans during the COVID-19 public health emergency. During negotiations around the American Rescue Plan, Senator Shaheen led the push to expand and enhance the ACA’s premium tax credits – and thanks to her advocacy, provisions of her bill, the Improving Health Insurance Affordability Act, were included in the American Rescue Plan on a temporary basis. These changes are projected to reduce premium expenses by more than 37 percent on average. Consistent with Shaheen’s bill, President Biden’s new American Families Plan would make these premium tax credit enhancements permanent, expanding health care coverage to more than 4 million Americans who would otherwise go uninsured.
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