Speaker John A. Pérez Praises the SCOTUS Decision to Uphold Affordable Care Act

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SACRAMENTO – In this Democratic weekly radio address, Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez (D-Los Angeles) talks about the importance of the US Supreme Court’s recent decision to uphold President Obama’s Affordable Care Act, which will benefit millions of Californians previously denied coverage because of preexisting conditions, allow children to stay on their parents’ health plans until age 26 and will prevent people from going bankrupt due to an illness or injury. Speaker Pérez, who authored legislation implementing a key component of the Affordable Care Act creating California’s Health Care Exchange, said this is an especially important victory for California, allowing people access to more affordable and comprehensive healthcare coverage.

This week’s English language address is 2:27.

http://www.asmdc.org/audio/20120629RadioAddressACAEnglishPerez.MP3

This week’s Spanish language address is 3:00.

http://www.asmdc.org/audio/20120629RadioAddressSpanishPerezVoiceTrack.MP3

Website of Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez: www.asmdc.org/speaker

Transcript:

Hello, this is John Pérez, Speaker of the California State Assembly.

On Thursday, the Supreme Court of the United States upheld the Affordable Care Act after two years of vigorous legal challenges to its constitutionality. This is a tremendous victory for the people of our state.

With the Supreme Court’s decision, millions of Californians will benefit from the tough new rules that prevent healthcare companies from denying coverage for preexisting conditions. Hundreds of thousands of young Californians will be eligible to stay on their parents insurance until the age of 26, and the era of illness and injury leading to bankruptcy will be firmly behind us.

Most importantly, individuals who will now be required to have health care coverage will have access to preventive and appropriate health care services. This access will help prevent more serious health conditions and save money in the long run.

This will address one of the single largest factors in driving up the skyrocketing cost of healthcare, and by broadening the pool, we can lower costs for consumers.

This is an especially important victory for California. Our state was the first to implement the Health Care Exchange provision of the Affordable Care Act. This exchange, which was created by legislation that I authored in 2010, will provide Californians a one-stop shop to the health care insurance market so that small employers and individuals can select among affordable, comprehensive coverage that is easily comparable.

Almost 2 million Californians will get access to subsidies to help them buy insurance through the exchange, and healthcare insurance companies will be forced to compete, lowering the price of coverage for consumers.

My colleagues and I in the Assembly were very proud President Obama and Congressional Democrats for fighting to ensure that Americans have access to quality, affordable healthcare.

The Supreme Court’s decision is a tremendous validation of that effort, and we’re eager to continue moving forward with implementing the provisions of the Affordable Care Act so every person in our state has access to the quality, affordable healthcare they deserve.

This is Assembly Speaker John Pérez. Thank you for listening.