Sen. Carper Statement in Response to Supreme Court Ruling on Affordable Care Act

WASHINGTON – Today, Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) released the following statement in response to the Supreme Court’s ruling on the Affordable Care Act:

“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.”