Statement from Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle on the U.S. Supreme Court’s Affordable Health Care Act Ruling

I applaud today’s Supreme Court ruling on King v. Burwell.

President Obama’s Affordable Care Act has been a godsend to those of us in the public health business. Thanks to the ACA, we are moving toward long-term financial sustainability for the Cook County Health and Hospitals System. More than 180,000 patients are now enrolled in CountyCare, the County’s managed Medicaid plan, greatly exceeding our 2015 enrollment goal of 156,000. Now, for the first time in its history, our health system has more insured patients than uninsured patients.

The ACA and creation of CountyCare has helped us reduce the allocation from County taxpayers to the Health System by more than half in four years, saving local taxpayers $200 million annually.

Our focus now is retaining and expanding our patient population and continually improving the patient experience as we continue our transformation from a health care system of last resort for those most vulnerable to a provider of choice for all residents.