Windy City Media Group Frontpage News

THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

home search facebook twitter join
Gay News Sponsor Windy City Times 2023-12-13
DOWNLOAD ISSUE
Donate

Sponsor
Sponsor
Sponsor

  WINDY CITY TIMES

Supreme Court upholds Affordable Care Act subsidies
by Lisa Keen, Keen News Service
2015-06-25

This article shared 4115 times since Thu Jun 25, 2015
facebook twitter google +1 reddit email


The U.S. Supreme Court, in a 6 to 3 decision, upheld the right of the federal government to provide health care insurance subsidies to people with low income in states that have chosen not to participate in the Affordable Care Act by setting up insurance "exchanges."

The decision, written by Chief Justice John Roberts, is a big political victory for the Obama administration and a big relief for people with low incomes, including many people with HIV. Lambda Legal, Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, the National Center for Lesbian Rights joined briefs to the court urging it to uphold the subsidies.

The Supreme Court did not rule today on whether states can ban same-sex couples from marrying, but it is scheduled to release more opinions tomorrow and Monday.

The decision, King v. Burwell, upheld a decision from the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that said the federal government's subsidies to people with low incomes in all 50 states was consistent with the intent Congress had in passing the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

Lambda, Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, and other LGBT groups filed a brief urging the Supreme Court to uphold the lower court decision. The brief led by Lambda said that withholding the subsidies from people in the states that did not participate in ACA would "lead to an absurd and catastrophic public health result, especially in the context of HIV…."

Justices Anthony Kennedy, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan joined the Chief Justice in the majority opinion.

Justice Antonin Scalia wrote the dissent, which was joined by Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito.

President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law in 2010 with the aim of providing health care insurance for all citizens. One aspect of the law required states to create health insurance "exchanges" through which citizens could do comparative shopping and find coverage they could afford. If states decided against creating their own exchange, the law provided for the federal government to set up an exchange for citizens in those states.

The ACA also provided for the federal government to provide subsidies for citizens with low incomes through the exchanges. Opponents of the ACA challenged those subsidies, saying the law meant them to be provided only through state-established exchanges, not through federal exchanges. A conflict arose over the law's stipulation that the subsidy depended in part on whether the "applicable taxpayer" sought insurance through "an Exchange established by the state…." In writing the regulations to implement the ACA, the Internal Revenue Service said the subsidies were available to a taxpayer who enrolled through "an Exchange," whether it was established by the state or the federal government.

The majority said "State Exchanges and Federal Exchanges are equivalent…."

"If a State chooses not to follow the directive in [the ACA] that it establish an Exchange, the Act tells the Secretary [of Health and Human Services] to establish 'such Exchange.' And by using the words 'such Exchange,' the Act indicates that State and Federal Exchanges should be the same," wrote Chief Justice Roberts.

Justice Scalia called that conclusion "absurd" because "The Secretary of Health and Human Services is not a State."

Scott Schoettes, HIV Project Director for Lambda, called the majority decision "great news," saying it protects "access for all" to health insurance, "including people living with HIV who are low-income, rural, southern, Black, and were—before the Affordable Care Act—largely uninsured."

"No one should be put at greater risk to the ravages of HIV simply because they live in one of the 34 states choosing not to set up its own health insurance exchange," said Schoettes. Lambda noted that, when ACA was enacted in 2010, "only 17 percent of people living with HIV had private health insurance." Schoettes said that, while Lambda doesn't have statistics on the change since ACA, "we know that it has increased substantially, because we know that there are lots of people enrolled through the exchanges today that were not previously able to obtain private health insurance."

The brief noted that the rate of uninsured LGBT adults with low income went down by eight percentage points during the first year of ACA enrollment.

© 2015 Keen News Service. All rights reserved.

Press release from Lambda Legal

( New York, NY June 25, 2015 ) — Today, in a 6-3 decision in King v. Burwell, the United States Supreme Court, rejected the latest challenge to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act ( ACA ), declaring that health insurance subsidies are available to residents of all states.

"Congress passed the Affordable Care Act to improve health insurance markets, not to destroy them[,]" the Court stated in the opinion authored by Chief Justice Roberts. "[The tax] credits are necessary for the Federal Exchanges to function like their State Exchange counterparts, and to avoid the type of calamitous result that Congress plainly meant to avoid."

"This is great news. The majority ruled to preserve the tax credits and maintain the integrity of the Affordable Care Act, protecting access for all, including people living with HIV who are low-income, rural, southern, Black, and were—before the Affordable Care Act—largely uninsured. No one should be put at greater risk to the ravages of HIV simply because they live in one of the 34 states choosing not to set up its own health insurance exchange," said Scott Schoettes, HIV Project Director for Lambda Legal.

"When Congress enacted the ACA in 2010, only 17% of people living with HIV had private health insurance—a disheartening statistic given the greatly improved health outcomes and dramatically reduced likelihood of transmission when people have access to consistent care. Today, the Court acted to preserve a key component in the battle against HIV/AIDS—improved access to affordable, reliable and comprehensive healthcare, an especially critical need for vulnerable communities of color," Lambda Legal Counsel Greg Nevins said.

Last January, Lambda Legal filed a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of nine national HIV advocacy organizations focusing on how an adverse decision in the case would most severely impact people of color living with HIV in the states that have elected not to run their own health insurance exchange.

The Affordable Care Act, signed by President Obama in March 2010, reformed aspects of the healthcare and insurance system and expanded access to private health insurance for millions of Americans. In King v. Burwell, opponents of the ACA—which is providing access to healthcare for millions of previously-uninsured Americans—attempted to eliminate tax credits that make health insurance affordable for most low-income residents in the 34 states that have a federally-facilitated health insurance exchange, including tens of thousands of people living with HIV. The lawsuit jeopardized access for those earning between 100%-400% of the Federal Poverty Level ( $23,850-$95,400 for a family of four ) to the subsidies that allow them to afford health insurance and maintain their health. The IRS ruled that the tax credits are available to participants on the health insurance exchanges in every state, but the challengers wanted to limit the tax credits only to residents of states that established and are administering their own health insurance exchanges.

The following organizations joined Lambda Legal as signatories in the amicus brief: Asian and Pacific-Islander Coalition on HIV/AIDS ( APICHA ), Black AIDS Institute, Gay and Lesbian Advocates & Defenders ( GLAD ), GLMA: Health Professionals Advancing LGBT Equality ( GLMA ), HIV Prevention Justice Alliance ( HIV PJA ), Latino Commission on AIDS, National AIDS Education and Services for Minorities ( NAESM ), National Black Justice Coalition ( NBJC ), and National Minority AIDS Council ( NMAC ).

Lambda Legal Counsel Greg Nevins and HIV Project Director Scott Schoettes joined Kristen Mayer, Nicole Cate, Douglas Hallward-Driemeier and Nicholas Perros of Ropes & Gray LLP as counsel on the brief.

Read the brief www.lambdalegal.org/in-court/legal-docs/king_us_20150128_amicus-lambda-legal-et-al .

The case is King v. Burwell.

Press release from AIDS Foundation of Chicago

Today, the United States Supreme Court ruled to allow the continuation of federal subsidies through the Affordable Care Act ( ACA ) to help people across the U.S. afford health insurance. The landmark case of King v. Burwell was decided on a vote of 6-3, with Chief Justice John Roberts writing the majority opinion. The AIDS Foundation of Chicago ( AFC ) is elated that the court has ruled to continue these subsidies that have allowed millions of Americans to afford health insurance — many for the first time.

"This ruling is an enormous victory for people in Illinois who rely on these subsidies to access health insurance, including thousands of people living with HIV or who are vulnerable to HIV," says John Peller, president/CEO of AFC. "The ACA's core assertion that health care is a right and not a privilege was put to test before the court, and I join in with the millions of Americans who today can breathe easy knowing that that right has not been diminished."

"This ruling ensures that health insurance subsidies provided to low- and middle-income people in 34 states will continue," says Daniel Frey, AFC's director of government relations. "Thanks to subsidies, thousands of people with HIV in Illinois and tens of thousands across the country will be able to continue to access more affordable, comprehensive health care to better manage their HIV and other conditions. There is no question that the ACA has been a once-in-a-lifetime game-changer for the fight against HIV. Thanks to the Supreme Court's ruling, that fight can continue uninterrupted."

AFC has leadership staff and community advocates available for interviews to speak about the impact of this court ruling on people living with and vulnerable to HIV in IL.


This article shared 4115 times since Thu Jun 25, 2015
facebook twitter google +1 reddit email

Out and Aging
Presented By

  ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE

Gay News

Chicago's LGBTQ+ Advisory Council sets a new course
2024-03-18
Chicago's LGBTQ+ Advisory Council held its first meeting of the calendar year on Feb. 28 at City Hall in the Loop under the leadership of the recently appointed chair Jin-Soo Huh. The LGBTQ+ Advisory Council is ...


Gay News

WORLD Leaked messages, Panama action, author dies at 32, Japan court, out athletes
2024-03-15
Hundreds of messages from an internal chat board for an international group of transgender health professionals were leaked in a report and framed as revealing serious health risks associated with gender-affirming care, including cancer, according to ...


Gay News

NATIONAL Missouri measure, HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, judge, Texas schools
2024-03-15
In Missouri, a newly proposed law could charge teachers and counselors with a felony and require them to register as sex offenders if they're found guilty of supporting transgender students who are socially transitioning, CNN noted. ...


Gay News

College athletes sue NCAA over transgender policies
2024-03-15
Former Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines was among a group of college athletes who filed a lawsuit against the NCAA on March 14, accusing it of violating their Title IX rights by allowing trans swimmer Lia Thomas ...


Gay News

UK health service to stop routinely prescribing puberty blockers to minors
2024-03-14
NHS (National Health Service) England confirmed that children will no longer routinely be prescribed puberty blockers at gender-identity clinics, the BBC reported. The decision came after a review found there was "not enough evidence" that they ...


Gay News

LGBTQ+ people attacked by mobs in Greece
2024-03-14
Just weeks after a landmark law granted same-sex couples in Greece the right to marry, nearly 200 people dressed in black chased a transgender couple through the town square in Thessaloniki, the country's "second city" and ...


Gay News

One Roof Chicago launches youth-focused workforce development program
2024-03-14
One Roof Chicago (ORC) is set to launch its first training, education and job placement program for LGBTQ+ young adults in late spring. This Community Health Workers and Elder Care program is a part of ORC's ...


Gay News

Howard Brown experts discuss advocacy and allyship for Chicago's trans community
2024-03-14
By Alec Karam - Howard Brown Health's Trans & Gender Diverse People's Rights & Patient Care panel convened March 12 to discuss both resources for—and opportunities to provide allyship to—the city's trans and gender diverse communities. The event hos ...


Gay News

Howard Brown Health faces October trial if settlement isn't reached with union
2024-03-13
Howard Brown Health could go to trial over unfair labor practice allegations if the LGBTQ+ health center doesn't reach a settlement with its agreement soon. Chicago's regional director of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) filed ...


Gay News

Florida settles 'Don't Say Gay' lawsuit
2024-03-11
On March 11, the state of Florida settled a multi-year lawsuit against the so-called "Don't Say Gay" law, which limits how LGBTQ+ topics can be discussed and presented in schools, The Hill reported. The settlement agreement ...


Gay News

"X" gender marker now available on Illinois driver's licenses and state ID cards
2024-03-11
After several years of preparation, the Illinois Secretary of State's office is has been making the X gender designation available for non-binary residents and others not utilizing the M or F designations, since the beginning of ...


Gay News

Pro-choice activists protest crisis pregnancy center on International Women's Day
2024-03-11
The rainy weather on March 8 didn't deter a passionate group of pro-choice protesters from gathering in Old Town on International Women's Day. Following the opening of Women's Care Center—a crisis pregnancy center—directly next to Pl ...


Gay News

NATIONAL Altercation, mpox research, Univ. of Fla., George Santos, tech battle
2024-03-08
Video footage uploaded to Facebook showed an altercation between a state trooper and two prominent Philadelphia LGBTQ+ leaders, the Washington Blade reported, republishing an article from Philadelphia Gay News. Celena ...


Gay News

WORLD Israeli reservist, man detained, Ghana bill, medic denied honor
2024-03-08
Hanania Ben-Shimon—the gay Israel Defense Forces reservist who was wounded as he killed one of the terrorists in the attack at the A-Za'ayem checkpoint near Ma'ale Adumim recently—published a post in which he pleaded that his ...


Gay News

Pride 365 event emphasizes year-round support for LGBTQ+ employees
2024-03-07
Queer employees are queer all year-round. The need for employers to accordingly support and uplift them year-round was the core message at Howard Brown Health and Citywide Pride's Pride 365 "Out of Office to Out in ...


 


Copyright © 2024 Windy City Media Group. All rights reserved.
Reprint by permission only. PDFs for back issues are downloadable from
our online archives.

Return postage must accompany all manuscripts, drawings, and
photographs submitted if they are to be returned, and no
responsibility may be assumed for unsolicited materials.

All rights to letters, art and photos sent to Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago
Gay and Lesbian News and Feature Publication) will be treated
as unconditionally assigned for publication purposes and as such,
subject to editing and comment. The opinions expressed by the
columnists, cartoonists, letter writers, and commentators are
their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay,
Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature Publication).

The appearance of a name, image or photo of a person or group in
Nightspots (Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times
(a Chicago Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature
Publication) does not indicate the sexual orientation of such
individuals or groups. While we encourage readers to support the
advertisers who make this newspaper possible, Nightspots (Chicago
GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay, Lesbian
News and Feature Publication) cannot accept responsibility for
any advertising claims or promotions.

 
 

TRENDINGBREAKINGPHOTOS







Sponsor


 



Donate


About WCMG      Contact Us      Online Front  Page      Windy City  Times      Nightspots
Identity      BLACKlines      En La Vida      Archives      Advanced Search     
Windy City Queercast      Queercast Archives     
Press  Releases      Join WCMG  Email List      Email Blast      Blogs     
Upcoming Events      Todays Events      Ongoing Events      Bar Guide      Community Groups      In Memoriam     
Privacy Policy     

Windy City Media Group publishes Windy City Times,
The Bi-Weekly Voice of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans Community.
5315 N. Clark St. #192, Chicago, IL 60640-2113 • PH (773) 871-7610 • FAX (773) 871-7609.