Delaware Gov. Jack Markell and U.S. Sen. Tom Carper issued the following statements on the Supreme Court decision to uphold the Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act. Both Democrats were supporters of the bill with Carper spending a great deal of time with the issue in conversations with the public and the media.
Markell’s comments
“The President deserves credit for being willing to tackle a status quo of rapidly rising costs and shrinking coverage. The decision allows our state and nation to move past the uncertainty months of deliberations have caused and move forward to address critical health care issues facing the state and nation.
The Supreme Court’s ruling enables Delaware to continue to implement provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to provide access to health care benefits for Delawareans. It means that pre-existing condition exclusions for children will continue to be banned, that people starting their careers can continue to access health care through their parent’s coverage until age 26, and that work in Delaware can continue on providing access to quality affordable health care coverage to Delawareans. On the Medicaid front, Delaware already voluntarily expanded the state’s Medicaid coverage program in 1996 to cover many Delawareans not previously covered.
We cannot address access to health care without simultaneously addressing the issue of health care costs. The health care system and marketplace are changing and must continue to change to address the unsustainable healthcare costs in Delaware and nationally. We must move from a sick care system to a health care system. The good news is that by improving health we can also reduce health care costs – and instead invest in the infrastructure and economic development climate that supports jobs. This transformation of our health care system requires continued commitment to prevention and early detection, improving health outcomes, aligning our payment models to reward positive outcomes, and utilizing technology to better coordinate care and to deliver the highest quality care possible.
We look forward to our continued work and collaboration with the provider and payer community to transform how care is delivered, to support their innovation initiatives, and to get the right incentives and opportunities in place to promote health and prevent disease as we move forward to ensure access to affordable healthcare for Delawareans. While certainly not easy and not a quick fix, transforming health care can be a win-win; we can improve the quality of care, reduce the costs of care and improve the health of all Delawareans.”
Carper’s comments
“This is an historic day. The Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice John Roberts, has upheld the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act. I agree with the Court’s decision to sustain this landmark law and thank them for it.
“Today’s ruling removes much of the uncertainty surrounding the law by reaffirming its constitutionality. We should now move forward together and focus on implementing this law to the best of our ability, and where it needs improvement, make it better. Millions of Americans, including thousands of Delawareans, are already benefiting from this law. For example, three million young adults still have health insurance coverage through their parents’ plan; 17 million children with pre-existing conditions are no longer denied coverage; and more than five million seniors have saved $4 billion on their prescription drugs. And by 2014, more of the law’s provisions will go into effect, expanding access to quality, affordable health care for millions of uninsured Americans who currently lack it.
“Still, we cannot afford to rest on these accomplishments. To paraphrase Winston Churchill, ‘This is not the end. This is not the beginning of the end. This is the end of the beginning.’ We still have work to do. Let’s do it. For too many years, America has spent far more for health care than other developed nations. We haven’t always gotten better results, and we leave tens of millions of Americans without health care coverage every day. We can, and must, do better than that.
“Our health care reform law will help achieve better health care results for less money so that we might help Americans without health care obtain it. The Affordable Care Act is beginning to shift our approach to patient care from a system that often waits to treat individuals once they become sick to a system focused on keeping all Americans healthier in the first place. And it will provide Americans with more certainty in the security of their health care coverage.
“We have a fresh opportunity today to set aside the politics of division and instead focus like a laser on what works to provide better health care results for less money – prevention and wellness, improved access to primary health care, and coordinating the delivery of health care. Let’s seize the day and the opportunity that it holds for our country.”
