Staff Report
MONTGOMERY | Government planners and private businesses in Alabama are anticipating the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision Thursday on the federal health care act.
“Everyone is waiting for the ruling and then will plan accordingly,” Rosemary Elebash, Alabama director of the National Federation of Independent Business, said Wednesday.
“I think everyone I know has been holding back on hiring new people not knowing what the outcome is,” Elebash said.
Kimble Forrister, executive director of the Alabama Arise Citizens’ Policy Project, said the law holds “great promise” for Alabama and hopes it is upheld.
“Our current health care system is broken, leaving hundreds of thousands of Alabamians, including children, without basic care,” Forrister said in a statement. “If the Supreme Court’s decision enables the law to take full effect, the public will come to see its value for everyone.”
He said that if the court voids the law, about 750,000 Alabamians who need health insurance and regular health care will have no way to get it.
“We will all pay in the form of higher health insurance and treatment costs that now pay for those who cannot pay for themselves,” Forrister said.
If the health care act is upheld, Gov. Robert Bentley will have to deal with state mandates before leaving office in 2015.
“Gov. Bentley is hopeful the entire Affordable Care Act will be tossed out,” Jeremy King, Bentley’s deputy communications director. “Regarding implications, we need to be able to read and understand the opinion … before commenting on specific provisions.”
