In N.J., a collective sigh of relief
For the five insurance companies that sold plans in
And for hospitals around the state, it meant chaos avoided -- no sudden influx of uninsured patients in their emergency rooms, with its drag on the bottom line.
Relief was palpable throughout
Amid the applause, however, came a strong dissenting voice that echoed the chorus of outrage from ardent opponents of the Affordable Care Act nationwide, including many
"This decision turns common language on its head,"
Christie's reaction came about the same time as reports surfaced that he planned to formally announce his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination. Christie himself would not confirm those sourced reports on Thursday night.
Had the decision been different, Christie and the Democratic-controlled state Legislature would have been under pressure to cobble together a solution to the imminent loss of insurance by nearly 200,000 low- and middle-income people. As the governor increasingly has sought to appeal to the more conservative bloc of the
One-two punch
Nationally, 6.4 million Americans in 34 states, including
"Thank God," said
But she was able to afford health coverage, she said, because the tax credits lowered her monthly premium by more than
"Without the ACA, I don't know where I would be," she said. "After 40 years of working, I was put in a situation where you don't know how you're going to live. You can't work. I needed chemotherapy and radiation every day."
For all those who did not qualify for tax credits -- employees who receive coverage through their jobs, senior citizens on
Planned for contingencies
In the long lead-up to the decision, insurers had struggled with uncertainty and tried to plan for various contingencies, said
"There was an enormous amount of consternation and work behind the scenes," he said. With the decision, "It does free up a lot of time for folks to figure out the other challenges in health care, rather than focus on what we're going to do if subsidies are taken away."
The greatest of those challenges, he added, is affordability.
Nine health plans -- of about 50 offered in the state -- would see premium increases of more than 10 percent for 2016, under rate filings this year that have yet to be approved by the state
The chairman and CEO of the state's largest health insurer, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of
"There are a number of other health care issues to focus on in
AmeriHealth New Jersey, the second-largest company in
"We are very pleased that our members will not be affected by today's ruling," said
For
"The ruling clears the way for health reform to continue to grow," said
'We were very worried'
Hospital executives, too, said they were glad that the ruling had not caused a drastic increase in the numbers of uninsured people who would turn to hospital ERs as a last resort.
"We were very worried, honestly," said
As a result of the health law, consumers now have much greater access to care that they need, she said. "To have backtracked on that progress would have been devastating for those individuals," and also would have been "a big blow to the hospitals and other health care providers that take care of those patients regardless of their ability to pay," she said.
The ruling "stabilizes the health care delivery system," said
Physicians, too, welcomed the ruling, and are "pleased that patients who do not qualify for
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