The Black AIDS Institute salutes the U.S. Supreme Court for upholding health insurance subsidies under the Affordable Care Act
Today, by a 6-3 margin, the Supreme Court sided with the Obama Administration and ruled that the roughly 6.4 million Americans who receive health insurance subsidies offered through the federal government’s online marketplace, healthcare.gov, are still eligible to receive them.
This ruling is critical because the Affordable Care Act (ACA) provides access to healthcare to millions of poor people, including poor Black Americans as well as for Black Americans living with HIV/AIDS. It would have been a travesty if we had turned back the clock to a time when coverage was unaffordable for millions of Americans.
“This is a victory for the American people,” said Phill Wilson, President and CEO of the Black AIDS Institute. “A decision to strip away the subsidies would have decimated the Affordable Care Act and denied access to health care to millions of Americans leaving people to having to choose between healthcare and food, housing or their children’s education, and returning to the days when getting sick meant going bankrupt for many Americans.”
Eighty-five percent of Americans who purchased healthcare through healthcare.gov qualify for subsidies that average $272 per month-but for many people are much higher-and allow them to afford health insurance.
Research shows that fewer poor people are uninsured because of the ACA. In 2013, the number of uninsured Black Americans fell sharply from 19 to 14 percent, the largest annual change experienced by any racial/ethnic group since researchers began counting in 1997.
The Black AIDS Institute encourages every American to continue to push for the expansion of Medicaid in all 50 states. If you still lack health insurance, we encourage you to sign up for the Affordable Care Act. If you already have health insurance, be sure to access the healthcare available to you before you need to go to the emergency room.
About the Black AIDS Institute
Founded in May of 1999, the Black AIDS Institute (www.blackaids.org) is the only national HIV/AIDS think tank in the United States focused exclusively on Black people. The Institute’s Mission is to stop the AIDS pandemic in Black communities by engaging and mobilizing Black institutions and individuals in efforts to confront HIV. The Institute interprets public and private sector HIV policies, conducts trainings, offers technical assistance, disseminates information and provides advocacy and mobilization from a uniquely and unapologetically Black point of view. For more information or to interview Phill Wilson, contact Wendell Miller at 213-353-3610, extension 105.
