Health Care Reform Fight Far From Over, Despite Supreme Court Decision

CONTACT: R.J. Hufnagel, 412-562-2450, rhufnagel@usw.org

(Pittsburgh) – The United Steelworkers (USW) today applauded the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act but cautioned that the battle to protect the law is far from over.

The court decided, by a 5-4 vote, to preserve the law passed in 2010 that opened up access to health care for millions of uninsured Americans and prohibited some of the most onerous and unpopular practices of insurance companies, including the widespread denial of coverage to patients with pre-existing health conditions. Republicans have said they will continue to try to repeal the law.

“While we celebrate this ruling and applaud the court for standing up for justice and fairness in this nation’s health care system, we know that this is just the beginning,” said USW International President Leo W. Gerard.

“Republicans like Mitt Romney, John Boehner and Mitch McConnell want to take us back to a place where people can be denied coverage because they’ve been sick, where tens of millions of Americans have no access to health care, and where our elderly citizens have to decide between putting food on the table and buying their medicine.”

“Let me tell you: We are not going back,” Gerard said. “Under President Obama’s leadership, we have made too much progress to turn back the clock, and too many Americans stand to lose if this law is overturned. This country deserves a system that works for everyone, not just the healthy and the wealthy.”

The USW represents about 850,000 working men and women in the United States and Canada in a wide variety of industries, ranging from glass making to mining, paper, steel, tire and rubber and other manufacturing environments, to the public sector, service and health care industries.

# # #