Today, the Supreme Court rejected a dangerous challenge to the Affordable Care Act (ACA). In King v. Burwell, the Court rejected a claim that the ACA does not authorize the federal government to provide financial assistance to individuals who purchase health insurance through a federal, not state, exchange. This decision ensures that health care will remain affordable for millions of Americans. As the Court concluded, “[t]he combination of no tax credits and an ineffective coverage requirement could well push a State’s individual insurance market into a death spiral. . . . It is implausible that Congress meant the Act to operate in this manner.”
“It is time that this country move beyond challenges to the Affordable Care Act and work together to ensure that health care is affordable for all Americans,” said Sherrilyn Ifill, President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc. “Access to quality health care should not be restricted to the wealthy or those who live in particular states.”
Because of today’s decision, those who live in the 34 states that have refused to establish exchanges for the purchase of health insurance will continue to have access to federal subsidies which lower the cost of their health insurance. Had the court invalidated the regulations at issue, health insurance would have become unaffordable for over 6 million Americans who have registered under the ACA, and many of the nearly 32 million Americans still without health insurance.
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The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) is not a part of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) although LDF was founded by the NAACP and shares its commitment to equal rights. Since 1957, LDF has been a completely separate organization. Please refer to us in media attributions as the “NAACP Legal Defense Fund” or “LDF”.
