Hoosiers who receive tax subsidies to reduce the cost of their health insurance through the Affordable Care Act say they’re celebrating after the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling protecting those subsidies.
Nearly 160,000 Hoosiers have subsidies that reduce the cost of their insurance by an average of $320 per month.
One of those people is Muncie resident Lisa Clevenger, who shares a policy with her husband. Clevenger says, if the subsidies had been taken away, they wouldn’t have been able to keep their coverage. She says she’s frustrated by the constant attacks on the health care law.
“It’s become like watching children battle at home, you know?” Clevenger said. “Come on, come together; this is ridiculous.”
Americans for Prosperity has been one of the law’s most outspoken opponents. The group’s state director, Chase Downham, says no one wanted people’s insurance costs to go up.
But he says the Affordable Care Act has failed Americans.
“We were told we could keep our plans if we wanted them and that health care costs would go down through the enactment of the Affordable Care Act,” Downham says. “Neither of those things have been true.”
Downham adds his group will continue to fight for the law’s repeal in order to restart health care reform in what he calls a more patient-centered way.