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Georgia consumers relieved of threat to health coverage by U.S. Supreme Court’s third affirmation that Affordable Care Act is lawful

With the ACA firmly in place as the law of the land, federal and state law makers should turn their attention to improving affordability and closing remaining coverage gaps

Statement by Whitney Griggs, Health Policy Analyst at Georgians for a Healthy Future regarding today’s ruling on the California v. Texas lawsuit by the Supreme Court of the United States. The lawsuit sought to invalidate the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; Georgia was a plaintiff in the case.

“Georgians for a Healthy Future celebrates today’s Supreme Court ruling that rejected yet another challenge to the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). While we were disappointed to see such a frivolous lawsuit endure as long as it did, we are hopeful that this will be the last attempt to overturn the law that has provided quality, affordable coverage to hundreds of thousands of Georgians.

“Today’s ruling is a huge victory for all Georgians, especially the half million individuals and families enrolled in health coverage through the ACA Marketplace. In the midst the pandemic, the ACA has served as a lifeline for thousands of Georgians, allowing them to maintain coverage during an unpredictable time. Many Georgians were able to weather job losses and other economic hardships during the pandemic without losing access to vital health care thanks to the ACA.

“While we lament Governor Kemp’s and Attorney General Carr’s support of and participation in this effort to overturn a law that benefits so many Georgians, we need to look forward. We hope that today’s decision will embolden Georgia lawmakers to build upon the success of the ACA and make improvements at the state level, such as fully expanding Medicaid to hundreds of thousands of hard-working Georgians who currently have no pathway to coverage. Deep inequalities and structural racism continue to exist in our health care system and the state must act now to ensure all Georgians have access to quality, affordable health coverage.”

During the Affordable Care Act’s 2021 open enrollment period, 517,331 Georgia consumers enrolled in health plans. From February 15 to May 31, 2021, another 87,950 Georgians have enrolled in coverage during the ACA’s COVID-19 special enrollment period, which runs through August 15, 2021.