Statement by NC State AFL-CIO’s Secretary-Treasurer MaryBe McMillan on Supreme Court Health Care Decision

NC State AFL-CIO, PO Box 10805, Raleigh, NC 27605

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Jeremy Sprinkle, Communications Director, 919-833-6678, [email protected];

STATEMENT BY NC STATE AFL-CIO’S SECRETARY-TREASURER MARYBE MCMILLAN ON SUPREME COURT HEALTH CARE DECISION

“Today we celebrate, but tomorrow we get to work educating, mobilizing, and building toward quality health care for all.”

Raleigh, N.C., June 28, 2012 – Today working families in NC and around the country celebrate the court’s decision to uphold the Affordable Care Act.

We fought hard for this legislation because we believe that affordable health care is part of the economic recovery workers need. For too long, out of control health care costs have eaten away at our paychecks and bankrupted our future.

We’ve worked hard, we’ve paid our taxes, and for those of us lucky enough to have health insurance, we’ve paid our premiums and our co-pays. Working families have played by the rules, but unfortunately, the insurance companies have not. If we were too sick or had a pre-existing condition, then the insurance company could deny us coverage. If we needed an expensive operation to get better, insurance might not cover it. And if we had been to the doctor a lot, our premiums could go sky high.

That’s why we need the Affordable Care Act—because the insurance companies have chosen profits over people and working people have been left to choose between buying groceries or going to the doctor.

Thank goodness, with the Affordable Care Act, that will change. No longer will women be charged more for insurance than men. No longer will really sick patients be denied coverage. And no longer will desperate, uninsured families worry themselves sick over medical bills.

For years, the health care debate has been defined by fear instead of fairness. We applaud the President and all those in Congress who listened not to the fear-mongers, the naysayers, and the insurance executives, but who instead listened to the millions of Americans who have struggled to protect their health and the health of those they love. To all the elected officials who supported health care reform, thank you for standing on the side of fairness.

Today we celebrate, but tomorrow we get to work. We educate people so they understand what this law really means. We mobilize to protect against any future attacks on the Affordable Care Act. And most all, we continue to build on this legislation until we have a system where there is truly quality health care for all.

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