9to5 Blasts Court Decision that Weakens the ACA
On December 18, 2019 the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit struck down the
mandatory coverage requirement of the Affordable Care Act, instructing a lower court to decide
if the rest of the legislation can remain in force. Leng Leng Chancey, the Executive Director of
9to5, National Association of Working Women, issued the following statement:
“The Fifth Circuit Court’s decision to remove the mandatory insurance coverage requirement
imperils the future of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and is blow to working people — especially
low-wage workers. Women and communities of color are especially at risk to suffer if the ACA is
dismantled because we already suffer disparities in our ability to access health care services.
Two-thirds of the 23 million low-wage workers in the U.S.A. are women. The ACA made health
insurance available to many of those women and their families.
“Elected officials should be working to make health care more accessible — instead of attacking
a program that helps to provide health care coverage to 8.5 million people. We must not go
backward and make health insurance unaffordable to working families who only have coverage
because of the ACA.
“We encourage voters to tell their elected representatives that health care is a basic human right
— not a luxury. Together we must demand improvements — not cuts — to the ACA and
expanded health care coverage. Everyone in our country should have health coverage. We
cannot have economic justice until that happens. We won’t stop fighting until all families get the
health care they need.”
