A senate review by Senator Al McAffrey

~ Senator Al McAffrey ~

On Thursday, June 26th, the United States Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act by a vote of 5–4. The Court’s ruling guarantees that all Americans—regardless of their economic status—will now have meaningful access to reliable health care.

For the greater part of President Obama’s first term in office, we have heard from so many in the Republican Party about how the Affordable Care Act—derisively labeled by them as “Obamacare”—is unconstitutional and a gross overreach of government power. The Supreme Court has now dismissed those arguments once and for all. Indeed, the Court’s decision was authored by Chief Justice John Roberts himself, a staunch conservative who was appointed to the bench by President George W. Bush. There is no longer any doubt about the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, and now the real work can begin.

By this I mean that the time has finally come when we can put hollow and divisive partisan arguments behind us and start to make accessible health care a reality for all Americans. As a country and as a people, we are rich in so many ways. But our system of health care has so often been a shameful one. There is simply no excuse for any American to go without basic access to medical treatment simply because they lack the ability to pay. We are better than that.

I truly believe that we will become a more prosperous nation because of what the Supreme Court has decided today. There is an old saying that “a rising tide lifts all boats.” The annual cost of providing care for uninsured Americans—not to mention the consequences of them not receiving any care at all—is in the billions. This number is compounded when you factor in the hours missed from work, the days missed from school, and the seemingly endless time spent waiting in hospital emergency rooms when our citizens could instead be working, producing, and learning with the reassurance that their most basic health-care needs will be satisfied by a common-sense solution to our national health-care crisis. We will now be a healthier and stronger nation—and a better one.

If you have any questions or comments, I can be reached by email at mcaffrey@oksenate.gov or by phone at (405) 521-5610. You can also write me: Senator Al McAffrey, State Capitol, 2300 N. Lincoln Blvd. Room 533, Oklahoma City, OK, 73105.