Today, the Supreme Court ruled to uphold the entirety of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in California v. Texas, a lawsuit brought by several Republican Attorneys General – including Georgia’s Chris Carr – in an attempt to do away with the health care law.
“Today’s decision by the Supreme Court is a huge victory for Georgians and their right to quality, affordable health care. After Republicans’ decade-long battle to dismantle the ACA and rip coverage away from millions of people, Georgians can rest easy today knowing the ACA is here to stay,” said Congresswoman Nikema Williams, Chair of the Democratic Party of Georgia. “Georgians will remember that Republicans like Attorney General Chris Carr tried to rip health care away from hundreds of thousands of Georgians and gut protections for pre-existing conditions, while Democrats fought to protect their health care every step of the way. Brian Kemp and Georgia’s GOP Senate candidates will no doubt continue waging war on Georgians’ health care, but Democrats up and down the ballot will keep fighting to expand Medicaid in Georgia, lower costs, and ensure every family has the health care they deserve.”
The Democratic Party of Georgia stated in a news release that due to the Supreme Court’s ruling:
- 343,000 Georgians keep their health coverage. Had the ACA been repealed, 343,000 Georgians would have lost coverage, leading to a 24% increase in the uninsured rate.
- 87,000 Georgia children keep their health coverage. Almost three million children nationwide gained coverage thanks to the ACA.
- 4.3 million Georgians with pre-existing conditions can no longer be denied coverage or charged more due to their medical history. This includes 597,000 Georgia children, 2.2 million Georgia women, and 958,100 Georgians between ages 55 and 64.
- Millions of Georgia women cannot be charged up to 50 percent higher than men for coverage. Prior to the ACA, women were often charged premiums on the nongroup market up to 50 percent higher than men were charged for the same coverage
- 337,826 Georgians in the marketplace won’t have to pay more for coverage. If the lawsuit had succeeded, consumers would have no longer had access to tax credits that help them pay for marketplace premiums.
- 138,291 Georgia seniors won’t have to pay more for prescription drugs. If the lawsuit were successful, the Medicare “donut” hole would have reopened, causing seniors to have to pay more for prescription drugs.
- 4.1 million Georgians won’t have to pay for preventative care. Because of the ACA, health plans must cover preventive services — like flu shots, cancer screenings, contraception, and mammograms – at no cost to consumers. This includes nearly 4,187,077 Georgians, most of whom have employer coverage.
- 3.3 million privately-insured Georgians will not face lifetime and annual caps on care. Repealing the Affordable Care Act would have meant insurance companies would be able to once again impose annual and lifetime limits on coverage for those insured through their employer or on the individual market.
