Today’s decision is a huge win for the country – and for children and families in California.
For more than a decade, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has been a cornerstone of our health care system, providing more than 20 million Americans with the security of coverage and granting millions of more Americans new patient protections. As an organization that advocates for health equity on behalf of children and their families, we understand the vital role the ACA has played in increasing access to health care for all, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Improving health equity was, and continues to be, a central goal of the ACA.
Last year, alongside our partners, we filed an Amicus Brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in California v. Texas, supporting the continuation of the Affordable Care Act, and highlighting the benefits it had extended to the nation’s children and young adults.
Health care coverage is critical to helping kids reach their full potential. Children with health coverage have better access to important preventive services, lead healthier lives and perform better in school. Quality coverage for kids is more than an insurance card. Coverage means getting care that is affordable and child-centered—care that meets the unique needs of kids to help them develop and grow.
Through the ACA, children have reaped the benefits of guaranteed coverage without discrimination based on pre-existing conditions, free preventive services during critical stages of child development, enrollment simplifications, mandated essential pediatric health benefits (including oral and vision services), outreach and enrollment activities, and a host of benefits and protections to keep our most marginalized children covered.
Millions of Americans can sleep a little easier tonight knowing that the ACA remains the law of the land, without fear of figuring out how to pay for their next doctor’s appointment. This fight was never about a specific provision of the law. It was always about real human lives – lives of parents, siblings and community members that will be saved and lives of children that have a more secure future because of the ACA.
For more information on the Affordable Care Act and its impact on children, please see our 2016 issue brief.
