· June 28, 2012

Innovation Ohio Reaction to the ACA Decision

News Release For Immediate Release: June 28, 2012 Contact: Dale Butland, 614-783-5833

Innovation Ohio Reaction to the ACA Decision

Today’s Supreme Court decision means Ohioans, and all Americans, can sleep easier tonight: insurance companies can’t rip us off anymore. The decision may be a victory for President Obama -but it’s a much larger victory for:

• the 35 million uninsured Americans who will now have coverage;
• the thousands of Ohioans with pre-existing conditions who can no longer be denied insurance;
• the 97,000 young Ohioans under the age of 26 who can remain on their parents’ policies;
• the 50% of our population who are female –and can no longer be charged higher insurance rates simply because they are women
• the 150,000 senior citizens in Ohio who will no longer find themselves trapped in the Medicare “donut hole”
• all of us who DO have insurance and won’t have to pay higher premiums in order to subsidize irresponsible free-loaders who can afford insurance but simply choose not to buy it and to stick us with their medical bills instead.

Today, the Supreme Court put politics aside and said that the same “individual mandate” that Mitt Romney implemented in Massachusetts is fully and completely constitutional. The question now is whether Republicans will also put politics aside and work with Democrats to help make this law work for all Americans. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look that way, at least in Congress. This morning, Speaker of the House John Boehner promised more politics as usual. He says he intends to waste even more time trying to repeal this law. Congressional Republicans are proving once again that they have no interest in bi-partisanship or in working together on behalf of the American people. No wonder disgust with Congress is at an all-time high. Let’s hope that Ohio Republicans will take a different tack. With today’s ruling, let’s hope that Lt. Gov. Taylor stops dragging her feet and starts setting up an Ohio health insurance exchange. And let’s hope Gov. Kasich’s new-found commitment to the poor is more than just rhetoric and that he’ll immediately begin working on expanding Medicaid eligibility so that thousands of low income Ohioans aren’t left out in the cold with no insurance and no way to pay for any. The time for politics is past. It’s time now for Republicans and Democrats to work together on behalf of the land we love.

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