Supreme Court Affirms Americans’ Right to Quality, Affordable Health Care — Mitt Romney Would Repeal Obamacare and Refight Old Political Battles

TALLAHASSEE, FL  – Florida Democratic Party Executive Director Scott Arceneaux today released the following statement on the Supreme Court ruling that Obamacare is constitutional:

STATEMENT FROM FDP EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR SCOTT ARCENEAUX: 

“With the Supreme Court’s ruling today, all three branches of government have now agreed that President Obama’s health care law is the right thing to do for people of Florida and middle class families across the country.  The Court upheld the individual mandate along with all the reforms that ensure Americans, not their insurance companies, have control over their health care.  The law is already helping millions of Americans and will help millions more in the years to come. 

“Now it’s time to move on from the political battles over health reform and get to work on the economy.  Congress passed the law, the President signed it, and the Court ruled that it’s constitutional.  The important thing now is to fully implement the law so that we can cut costs and ensure all Americans get the care they need.

“Yet Mitt Romney and Republicans in Congress want to keep refighting the political battles of the past.  The individual mandate in Massachusetts—which Romney personally championed and signed into law—is almost exactly the same as Obamacare’s similar requirement. But Mitt Romney says he wants to repeal Obamacare.  He has said that he would ‘kill it dead,’ something that would hurt middle-class families, women, seniors and young Americans in Florida.

“The fact of the matter is Romney would take away all of Obamacare’s benefits.  Because of Obamacare, insurance companies can’t deny children coverage due to pre-existing conditions like cancer or asthma.  More than 3 million young adults are able to stay on their parents’ health care plans until the age of 26, and more than 5 million people got discounts on their prescription drugs while in the Medicare ‘doughnut hole,’ saving an average of more than $600 a year on their prescription drugs.  Obamacare will save middle class families up to $2,300 a year on top of the largest health care tax cut in history, worth an average of $4,800 to about 19 million middle class Americans.  And we are making all of this progress while strengthening Medicare and reducing the deficit by more than $120 billion by 2021.

“It’s time for Washington to move past the same old political battles over health reform and get to work on the economy. I encourage Mitt Romney and Republicans in Congress to put politics aside and start fighting for the American people.”

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