MEDIA ALERT
from the ILLINOIS POLICY INSTITUTE

Media contact: Diana Rickert (312) 607-4977

Illinois Policy Institute on Supreme Court ruling: Repeal and replace ObamaCare

Experts available for interviews in Chicago and Springfield

CHICAGO (June 28, 2012) – The Illinois Policy Institute released the following statement in response to the U.S. Supreme Court affirming President Obama's health care law:

"The Supreme Court's decision to uphold ObamaCare – and specifically the individual mandate – was a severe blow to restoring Constitutional limits on federal power. Although other provisions are already being challenged in federal court, now more than ever, we need states to take the lead and protect taxpayers and consumers from this overreaching law. Congress must repeal all of ObamaCare and replace it with reforms that put patients first.
 
For evidence of how ObamaCare will fail, look no further than Illinois' Medicaid program. This broken program already fails to meet the needs of Illinois' most vulnerable. Chicago children with throat cancer have only a one-in-three chance of seeing a specialist while on Medicaid (New England Journal of Medicine). Under ObamaCare, total Medicaid enrollment in Illinois will reach nearly 4.5 million people in 2019 – three times the enrollment of only a decade ago. A program that was created as a temporary safety net for America's most vulnerable population soon will serve more than one-third of the state's population. And the end result is the president's signature law will make children with throat cancer or other serious conditions compete with even more people for fewer and fewer doctors willing to see them.

We urge Congress to repeal and replace ObamaCare with patient-centered reforms that empower the patient and offer real choice."

 
Media contact: Diana Rickert (312) 607-4977
 

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The Illinois Policy Institute is a nonpartisan research and education organization dedicated to making Illinois a beacon for liberty and prosperity for all citizens. As a leading voice for economic liberty and government accountability, the Institute engages policy makers, opinion leaders and citizens on the state and local level by promoting free market principles and liberty-based public policy initiatives for a better Illinois. To learn more about the Institute or review policy briefs, please visit: www.illinoispolicy.org.