Mitch Perry
On Tuesday the U.S. Supreme Court will hear King v. Burwell, with the fate of millions of Americans’ access to health care through the Affordable Care Act at stake.
At issue is whether the law’s language allows the government to help middle-income people buy health insurance everywhere in the country — or only in states that have set up their own insurance marketplaces. If the court rules for the plaintiffs, nearly a million residents in Florida could become uninsured in 2016. That’s because, like in 37 other states, the state Legislature has opted not to create its own health care exchange.
“This ruling would cause chaos and strip coverage for millions of Americans,” said Michele Jawando, vice president for Legal Progress with the Center for American Progress in Washington. The D.C.-based think tank held a conference call Thursday morning for Florida reporters to sell the case that if the court rules against the Obama administration, it would be an unmitigated disaster. According to one projection, more than 8 million residents nationally would become uninsured if the high court rules for the plaintiffs in the case.
Jawando said the reason why the case even made it into the legal process is simple. “This case is part of a longstanding effort to repeal by any means.”
Certainly the Republican Party has never accepted the fact that the ACA is the law of the land. But its supporters say that a full-fledged repeal is untenable at this point.
There are nearly 1.3 million Floridians who have gained coverage through the federal marketplace, and 93% of those enrolled have received financial assistance. According to the Urban Institute, 1,073,000 would be unable to afford their health care coverage and would go back on the uninsured rolls if the U.S. Supreme Court were to rule in favor of the plaintiffs in King v. Burwell.
“The ACA is saving lives in this state,” said Leah Barber-Heinz, CEO with Florida CHAIN, a health care advocacy group that has championed the ACA. She said the law is working in Florida, saying that the uninsured rate in the Sunshine State has dropped to 3.2 percent.
“Since the ACA became the law of the land, the relief, the change in my life of being able to live without fear,” Celia Maluf, a self-employed fitness instructor from Miami, said to describe her current situation.. “That represents something that is difficult to translate into words.” She said she was looking at paying $900 in monthly premiums after she left working for Continental Airlines a few years ago, and is grateful to be able to afford government health care.
Advocates say that from the beginning of 2013 to mid-2014, the uninsured rate in Florida dropped 3.2 percentage points, from 22.1 percent to 18.9 percent.
