Statement from One Iowa Executive Director Donna Red Wing
Today the Supreme Court ruled in a 5 – 4 decision to largely uphold the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act which seeks to provide affordable health insurance coverage to millions of uninsured Americans and expand services and coverage to millions more. The ACA also includes provisions for addressing serious health disparities facing the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community.
Statement from One Iowa Executive Director Donna Red Wing:
“Today’s Supreme Court ruling upholds the values of fairness and justice and is a huge step forward in the fight for equality for LGBT Americans. The dream of being able to protect your family and to live a healthy life should not be a political football and is something every American should be able to access regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.
Unequal access to healthcare is a roadblock to full equality for LGBT Americans. Statistics show that only 57% of transgender Americans have health insurance compared to approximately 82% of heterosexual adults and 77% of LGB adults. And as many as two million children living in LGBT families face significant challenges to accessing adequate healthcare as a result of bias, stigma, and barriers to access. The Affordable Care Act goes a long way to addressing these serious health inequalities that continue to deny LGBT Americans equality under the law.
While we celebrate today's ruling, we know that we still have a lot of work to do to decrease health disparities in this country. One Iowa will continue to fight for full implementation of the law and access to Medicaid for society's most vulnerable citizens including low-income Americans, people of color, and LGBT people and their families.”
