Pelosi, Sebelius Mark Anniversary of Court Upholding Individual Mandate
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Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call(WASHINGTON) — Nearly one year after the Supreme Court decision upholding the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi spoke Wednesday morning about the future of American health care.
“As you know, Social Security, Medicare, have been pillars of stability in our society, and now, Social Security, Medicare and health independence — that’s the third pillar, something that we we’re very, very proud to be about,” Pelosi, (D-Calif.) said.
The implementation of the Affordable Care Act begins in 100 days. Enrollment starts on Oct. 1.
Three community members, a retired worker, a cancer survivor, and a type-1 diabetic, spoke about how the Affordable Care Act helped them receive and afford the medical care they’ve needed.
Pelosi introduced Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, who told the audience the promise of affordable health care would soon be fulfilled.
“No matter where you live or what your situation is, affordable health coverage will be within reach,” Sebelius said. “We recognize this is a huge undertaking. If it was easy, it would have been done decades ago, but we are on track, finally, to get it done. And I want to be clear: We are ready to go on October 1.”
Sebelius also spoke about the new websites launched earlier this week, healthcare.gov and cuidadodesalud.gov. These websites, along with available web chats and phone lines, will help people get their questions answered, Sebelius said.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do in the next hundred days, but every day we get reminders of how important the goal is that we’re working toward,” she added.
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