House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi invoked the memory of the late Sen. Edward Kennedy on Thursday as she hailed the U.S. Supreme Court ruling upholding Obamacare as “exciting” and “a victory for America’s families.”
“Today is a victory for America’s families. It was a victory for America’s families when we passed the Affordable Care Act and the president signed it into law. Since then, tens of millions of people in our country are already benefiting from the legislation,” Pelosi said on CNN.
The California Democrat said the legislation would especially benefit women, children, young people who can’t afford their own insurance, and older Americans.
“Children can no longer be not covered due to pre-existing conditions, young people can stay on their parents’ policy until they’re 26 years old, seniors are paying less for prescription drugs and have access to free wellness and preventive visits. When the bill comes into effect, being a woman will no longer be a pre-existing medical condition,” she said, calling it a “big victory for women."
“It’s about wellness, it’s about prevention, it’s about the health of America, not just the health care. It’s pretty exciting,” Pelosi said.
Kennedy, the liberal lion from Massachusetts who died in 2009 of brain cancer, had long advocated heath care reform. Pelosi said she had spoken to his widow, Victoria Reggie Kennedy, and son Patrick Kennedy, a former Rhode Island congressman, to thank them for “a lifetime of commitment for making health care a right in our country.”
“Ted Kennedy called it the great unfinished business. I knew when he left us he would go to heaven and help pass the bill and I know he was busily at work until this decision came down in one way or another, and now he can rest in peace,” Pelosi said. “His dream for American families has become a reality.”
In a statement, Victoria Reggie Kennedy said: “As my late husband Senator Edward Kennedy said, 'What we face is above all a moral issue; that at stake are not just the details of policy, but fundamental principles of social justice and the character of our country.'"
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