Mary’s Center Celebrates Supreme Court Decision to Uphold
President Obama’s Health Care Law.
Its 24,000+ participants will be positively impacted.
Washington, D.C. – Mary’s Center, a community health center that provides health care, social and educational services to thousands of families in the DC metropolitan area, celebrates the Supreme Court’s ruling on President Obama’s Affordable Care Act.
“The United States is in desperate need of health care reform. We congratulate President Obama and his team for their leadership to create a more just health care system,” said Maria Gomez, Mary’s Center President and CEO. “Now, we need to work together to create mechanisms for successful implementation. We are ready!”
Of the 24,000 individuals served by Mary’s Center in 2011, 41% were uninsured, 39% had Medicaid, 19% were covered by DC Health Care Alliance (insurance provided by the District to low income residents), and only 1% had private insurance.
Some Mary’s Center participants have already benefited from expanded Medicaid coverage under the Affordable Care Act. Mary’s Center participant Susannah Plocher took advantage of extended coverage under her parents’ insurance, another provision of the Affordable Care Act. “While I was able to find a job right out of college, I wasn’t making enough money to afford health insurance. Because of the Affordable Care Act, I can now stay on my parents’ plan until age 26.”
The Affordable Care Act enables Mary’s Center to provide preventative care to a larger community. Health promotion and screenings are a significant component of the Mary’s Center mission to save lives and strengthen communities, one family at a time. Furthermore, federal subsidies for health insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act will enable more Mary’s Center participants to undergo prescribed treatments.
“There is a direct relationship between a community’s wellness and a healthy economy. We believe that investing in healthy bodies and minds sets individuals and families on the path of success, enabling them to move up the economic ladder,” said Maria Gomez. “The Affordable Care Act is a positive step toward ensuring that families are able to meet basic needs.
”USHRN Informational Call on the Human Right to Health
A Human Rights Response to the Supreme Court’s Decision on
Health Care Reform
Today, the Supreme Court issued its decision upholding the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act! This decision means that millions of people in the United States, many who were previously denied healthcare, will have an opportunity to access health insurance.
The Supreme Court decision today is a victory for human rights but does it guarantee comprehensive and high-quality healthcare for all people in the United States? Does it address inequities in health outcomes? Please join members of the US Human Rights Network to learn more about the decision, discuss its human rights implications, and how we can mobilize for the right to universal healthcare in the United States.
With Supreme Court Ruling, Big Decisions Ahead for Congress
This morning, the Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act, but the really big decision on health care won’t come until late this year in Congress.
The most controversial provision of the law, known as the individual mandate, was affirmed by the court as a valid exercise of Congress’s power to tax. The decision ensures that implementation of state health insurance exchanges can go forward and that millions more Americans will have access to health insurance in 2014.
As important as this decision is, the $7.3 trillion fiscal cliff looming at the end of the year could have even greater impact. With the sequester and Sustainable Growth Rate provider rate cuts scheduled for January, and continually growing health spending that puts pressure on governments, businesses and families, Congress will have to act on health care. The question is how.
Some would have the strapped federal government shift more of its costs onto state governments, consumers or providers. This approach might give the appearance of fiscal responsibility, but it allows hundreds of billions in waste to remain in the health system. Simply shuffling costs from one budget to another does not help to put our fiscal house in order in the long term.
There is another way. It boils down to a simple principle: spending our health care dollars wisely. That means taking a look at the third of every health care dollar that isn’t improving anyone’s health. It means transforming today’s sick care system into a health care system that can fight the rising prevalence and cost of chronic disease.
For this approach to succeed, however, consumers, providers and policymakers each have a part to play. More consumers will have to take responsibility for managing their own health and choosing high-quality, low-cost providers and care. Providers will have to move beyond fee-for-service payments and transition to new, coordinated models of care that deliver better care at lower costs. Policymakers will have to craft viable policy solutions that enhance competition in health care markets, curb waste and fraud in public programs and adjust a range of agriculture, education, taxation and medical liability policies that impact our health costs.
For all the partisan debate over the Affordable Care Act, leaders in both political parties recognize that the current rate of growth in health spending is unsustainable. Now that the Court has settled the legal dispute, it is time for Republicans and Democrats alike to come together around common ground strategies that attack waste and ensure all of us are getting the most from our health care dollar.
“The court battle over the Affordable Care Act may be over,” said President and CEO John Rother, “but when it comes to curbing health costs, the real work has only just begun.”
AFGE Statement on Supreme Court Health Care Ruling
WASHINGTON – American Federation of Government Employees National President John Gage today issued the following statement in response to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling affirming the Affordable Care Act:
“The Supreme Court decision upholding the Affordable Care Act is a victory for everyone who believes all Americans are entitled to affordable, quality health care.
“Millions of Americans are already benefiting from the law, including federal employees, and the court’s decision ensures that all of the law’s provisions will become reality. Because of the Affordable Care Act, 3.1 million young adults have already received health coverage through their parents’ insurance. Because of the Affordable Care Act, 17 million children who are sick no longer are in danger of being dropped from coverage because of pre-existing conditions.
“And because of the Supreme Court’s ruling affirming the individual mandate and Medicaid provisions, health care coverage will now be extended to 30 million uninsured Americans – including up to 200,000 federal employees who can’t afford insurance through the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program.
“Now that this historic legislation has been upheld by the highest court in the land, it’s time for Republican leaders in Congress to stop their campaign to repeal the law and to focus instead on improving the economy and creating jobs.”
Millennial Opposition to President Obama’s Health Care Law
High as Concerns About Loss of Individual Freedom and Violations of Basic American Liberties Escalate
Washington, DC – 06/27/12 .– Intense debate and opposition to President Obama’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) have escalated the growth of Generation Opportunity’s Facebook page, “The Constitution by GO,” to over 1 million young adult fans. Millennials (young adults ages 18-29) have become much more vocal in their opposition to a law they increasingly view as a threat to and a violation of their individual freedom and basic American liberties.
Generation Opportunity created the Facebook page, “The Constitution by GO,” over a year ago as an online platform for Millennials to discuss and organize on issues related to the rights of all Americans as outlined in founding documents such as the Declaration of Independence and The Constitution.
Generation Opportunity presently has over 3.4 million fans on its Facebook platforms and works through social media and grassroots strategies to organize and mobilize young adult voters. The organization has a vigorous field operation that has already engaged hundreds of thousands of young Americans directly and has established a sophisticated network of activists across the country.
“The lack of enthusiasm among Millennials for this law is based in part on their growing sense of disillusionment with leaders in Washington and the crass, transparent calculation that young people would trade their basic American rights for a political promise of purportedly free healthcare. Young Americans are savvy and see this as yet another example of the pervasive arrogance coming out of Washington which insists government knows best,” said Paul T. Conway, president of Generation Opportunity and former Chief of Staff for the United States Office of Personnel Management, the agency responsible for managing the Federal Employee Health Benefit Program which covers most of the Executive Branch, as well as Members of Congress and their staffs.
Conway also served as Chief of Staff of the United States Department of Labor and previously served as Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Resources for the Commonwealth of Virginia.
“Young Americans know their rights as guaranteed in both the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. They are increasingly vocal and active in their opposition to this law, seeing the unprecedented threat they believe it represents to their basic freedoms and liberties, including religious liberty, fought for by our founders and the generations that followed. They know full well that this health care law would create a precedent for future federal intrusions into their personal lives and the institutions affiliated with their respective religious faiths,” added Conway.
Since the launch of the Facebook page over a year ago, the ACA has been a dominant issue among the young adult fans of “The Constitution by GO.” However, in the past several months, as the United States Supreme Court moved closer to making a ruling on the legislation championed by President Obama as a centerpiece of his domestic policy agenda, the activism of the fans on the page has increased markedly. A recent poll of fans on the page (unscientific) indicated that 91% are opposed to the healthcare law.
In recent weeks the platform has hosted an intense, vigorous debate among members of the key 18-29 demographic over the ACA, with the individual mandate specifically being the subject of frequent discussion among members of the page. The provision requires all Americans to purchase a health insurance policy or face a stiff penalty. Many young Americans view the compulsion as a flagrant assault on personal liberty and are apprehensive about the precedent it establishes; if the government can force its citizens to buy one product or service, it is unlikely to stop with health insurance.
Others have expressed grave concerns over coverage requirements that the Obama administration has demanded of religious institutions, including the provision of health services contrary to the basic principles and teachings of their faith. As an example, Catholic Charities faces a choice between violating their intrinsic principles or providing what the federal government deems the acceptable range of insured health services for their employees.
Many young Americans fear that religiously affiliated institutions may be forced to shut down altogether, leaving millions of people without access to care. Catholic hospitals alone account for 15.6 percent of all admissions and 14.9 percent of all hospital beds in the country, according to the American Hospital Association. In addition, almost a third (32 percent) of these hospitals are located in rural areas, where patients have fewer options for health care.
Generation Opportunity commissioned a poll with the polling company, inc./WomanTrend (April 16 – 22, 2011, +/- 4% margin of error) and a highlighted result for all young Americans ages 18-29 appears below:
Millennials – Attitudes toward Washington:
56% believe the wrong leadership is in Washington and 61% will vote on a candidate’s record, not charisma.
Only 31% of those 18-29 approve of Obama’s handling of the youth unemployment.
57% said they will learn more about the policy positions of Presidential candidates in the 2012 election than they did in 2008.
69% say political leaders do NOT reflect the interests of young Americans.
Millennials – Delayed Dreams from a Poor Economy and the Lack of Opportunity:
77% of young people ages 18-29 either have or will delay a major life change or purchase due to economic factors:
44% delay buying a home;
28% delay saving for retirement;
27% delay paying off student loans or other debt;
27% delay going back to school/getting more education or training;
26% delay changing jobs/cities;
23% delay starting a family;
18% delay getting married.
