Brooklyn, N.Y. – Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke released the following statement on conflicting decisions about the Affordable Care Act’s premium subsidies. Today,  the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit upheld the Affordable Care Act’s subsidies to both state and federal exchanges, while the U.S Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit prohibited subsidies to the federal exchange, but upheld these subsidies to state exchanges.

The decision by the D.C. Circuit, if upheld by the Supreme Court, would effectively prevent millions of American families from purchasing an affordable health insurance plan.

“Despite the disagreement between the appeals courts about the Affordable Care Act, the American people have reached their conclusion about the law, which has already allowed fourteen million people to enroll in comprehensive health insurance plans, a figure that includes nearly one million people in New York State,” said Congresswoman Clarke. “The premium subsidies were created to allow every family to have access to high-quality health care. These subsidies have worked. Indeed, in many instances, families and individuals who have enrolled in health insurance plans have received subsidies that provide for more than half the cost of their premiums. If and when this matter is heard at the Supreme Court, I urge them to focus on the purpose for which we enacted the Affordable Care Act: to expand access to quality health care. As a nation, we must have the ability to achieve that important purpose.”

U.S. Representative Yvette D. Clarke is a member of the House Committee on Small Business, Ethics, and Homeland Security, where she is the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Security Technologies. She represents many neighborhoods in central and southern Brooklyn, NY which include Brownsville, Crown Heights, East Flatbush, Flatbush, Gerritsen Beach, Madison, Midwood, parts of Park Slope and Flatlands, Prospect Heights, Prospect-Lefferts Gardens, Sheepshead Bay, and Windsor Terrace.