Reactions, both pro and con, about the Supreme Court’s decision to largely uphold the Affordable Care Act have been pouring in. The law requires employers with at least 50 employees to provide coverage or face a penalty.
John Huppertz, chairman of the Union College graduate MBA program in health care, told Brian Tumulty of the Gannett Washington Bureau that studies project that between 10 percent and 35 percent of employers will drop existing coverage because it will cost less to pay the penalty.
According to the Supreme Court’s blog, justices ruled that the law’s Medicaid expansion is constitutional, but it would be unconstitutional for the federal government to withhold Medicaid funds if states don’t comply with the expansion requirements.
From Heather Briccetti, president and CEO of the state Business Council:
“Today’s Supreme Court decision will have little immediate impact on the health insurance issues affecting New York State employers. The cost of health care remains the top cost-of-doing-business issue for Business Council members. Employers struggle with high group coverage costs, high state imposed taxes and surcharges and an ever–expanding list of coverage mandates. Nothing in today’s ruling helps ‘bend the cost curve’ or addresses the issues driving health care costs and utilization in New York State, which make the State one of the most expensive health insurance markets in the nation and a tremendous burden on large and small employers.(snip)
New York’s businesses remain as challenged and as disadvantaged as they were before today’s ruling. The state needs to take this opportunity to fix problems in its individual and small group markets. What New York must not do, is further burden employers with higher premiums or new taxes to pay for a health exchange and ever increasing mandates.”
From Rep. Nita Lowey, D-Harrison:
“I am pleased the Supreme Court today upheld the Affordable Care Act, protecting access to health insurance and quality of coverage for millions of Americans. This decision protects the coverage of 17 million children with pre-existing conditions, 6.6 million young adults on their parents’ plans, and 86 million seniors and families receiving free preventive care. I will continue to work with my colleagues to improve the law and make health care more affordable for New Yorkers.”
From state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who filed a brief in support of the law:
“The Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the Affordable Care Act is an historic victory for the tens of millions more Americans who will be covered by health insurance. The law’s effects will be significant in our state, where over two million people are uninsured. Over a million uninsured New Yorkers will soon have access to affordable coverage. This law will continue to provide a spectrum of key consumer protections including keeping young adults on their parents’ plans, ending pre-existing condition restrictions, and increasing consumer information about health care choices. My office stands ready to enforce the Affordable Care Act to ensure that all New Yorkers will benefit from the law’s protections.”
From Rye town Supervisor Joe Carvin, who won the GOP primary and will challenge Lowey:
“Today’s Supreme Court decision is deeply disappointing, but it serves to highlight two critical facts: Obamacare represents the largest tax increase in U.S. history, and it must be struck down legislatively by the Congress rather than through the courts.“Obamacare is unaffordable to a nation on a perilous path toward effective bankruptcy. As a member of Congress, I will work to overturn this fundamentally flawed law.”
