The ACA Ruling: Let's Remember That Health Care is a Human Right
Posted on: Friday, June 29, 2012 Keywords: Women's Health This
post originally appeared on RHRealityCheck. Yesterday, the
United States Supreme Court announced its ruling on the
constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care
Act (ACA). Now widely known as "Obamacare," the act was signed
into law two years ago, expanding health care coverage for
millions of previously uninsured people. The Court has ruled
that the central provision under examination – the individual
mandate, or the requirement that individuals purchase health
insurance – is, in fact, constitutional. While the court has
upheld the right of millions of young people in the US to be
covered under their parents’ insurance, and the right of
millions more with pre-existing conditions to be covered in the
event of illness, it has weakened the Medicaid provision which
would have expanded coverage to approximately 26 million people
living at or below the poverty line. In t