Thank You, SCOTUS. Now Let’s Get to Work.

By Ned Calonge, MD, MPH

Today’s Supreme Court ruling in support of federal tax subsidies for health insurance preserves a law that has provided crucial coverage to millions of Americans, including thousands of Coloradans.

The Affordable Care Act is working. From the time the law took effect until March of this year, more than 16 million Americans gained health coverage, with the greatest advances among African Americans and Latinos, according to the federal Department of Health and Human Services.

In Colorado, an astounding 589,000 people have signed up for Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program, or bought insurance on our state exchange since 2013, according to federal and state data.

The Supreme Court’s decision leaves room for us to continue working to make health care affordable and accessible to all. There remains much work to be done to lower costs, improve the quality of care and extend coverage to people who remain without insurance.

Let’s get to it.