"We should now be in the business of perfecting this law."
Sen. Chris Murphy
U.S. Senator Chris Murphy applauded today's Supreme Court decision upholding the part of the Affordable Care Act that allows the government to subsidize health care for the poor and middle class.
Speaking on the Senate floor soon after the decision was announced, Murphy said now that the Supreme Court has shut the door on a judicial repeal of Obamacare, he hopes the Republican-controlled House of Representatives will give up its "obsession" with repealing it. He called on Congress to move on and find ways to improve the ACA.
"We should now be in the business of perfecting this law. None of us think this law is perfect. Many of us are open to conversations about how to make it better, how to perfect it," he said.
In a written statement, Sen. Murphy said the Supreme Court made the right decision, calling the case "nothing more than political theater dressed up as a court case."
Today, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that government health care subsidies can be paid no matter where you live.
Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman spoke earlier today and praised the decision.
"It's the right decision for the people of this country, it's the right decision for our state, to show that it really is important that every person [has] the ability to have affordable, accessible health care," she said.
Jim Wadleigh, CEO of Access Health CT, the state's health care exchange, said if the court ruled the other way, "there would have been chaos."
"Pricing would have gone any direction. You would have seen somewhere in the ballpark of 10 million plus citizens across this country potentially lose health care coverage, something they've grown accustomed to having," he said.
The ACA mandates that most Americans get health insurance or pay a penalty. To help pay the monthly premiums, the federal government subsidizes that care for millions of Americans. Today, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that those subsidies can be paid no matter where you live.
