Disability rights activists celebrated the U.S. Supreme Courts decision eliminating the constitutional challenges to the landmark Affordable Care Act health care law. The law, which makes health care more accessible and affordable for millions of Americans, has a particularly significant impact on Americans with disabilities as a result of a number of provisions of the law, including the elimination of barriers to providing coverage for preexisting conditions, expanded access to medical equipment and services, and increased options for where individuals can receive services, including in their homes.

Other benefits of the law, as outlined by the Department of Health and Human Services, include an expanded Medicaid program, greater access to preventive services and the ability of individuals to stay on their parents plans until age 26, thereby making it easier for people with disabilities or chronic conditions to get insurance.

Furthermore, as ADAPT noted in a release following the decision, the law furthers the promise of the 1999 U.S. Supreme Court Olmstead decision, which gives people with disabilities the right to receive long-term care supports in the most integrated setting in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. One potential downside of the decision is that the ruling eliminated the federal governments authority to penalize states for choosing not to expand Medicaid, including provisions encouraging states to provide community services as an alternative to institutional services.

Governors of several states, for both political and financial reasons, have already indicated they will not expand their programs to increase coverage as the law allows. As one ADAPT official explained, it is important to put pressure on states to take advantage of these opportunities and not bend to the potential fiscal pressures. This is one of the great civil rights fights of our time: to ultimately see all people with disabilities live integrated in the community, not locked away in segregated settings." The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities released an analysis of the impact of health care reform on individual state budgets, which includes talking points for advocacy efforts to encourage states to embrace the opportunity.