BATON ROUGE, La (KLFY) — Today the Supreme Court made a ruling to uphold the Affordable Care Act, an Obama-era health care law that provides insurance coverage for millions of Americans.

Gov. Edwards applauded the decision, saying that the Act is a lifeline for many Louisianans in lower wage jobs and those with pre-existing health conditions.

Edwards made the following statement:

Today the United States Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Affordable Care Act, which is a huge victory for the people of our country and our state. It is my sincere hope that this protracted, politically motivated effort to overturn the Affordable Care Act can finally end and the millions of people helped by the ACA, including more than 849,000 Louisianans with pre-existing conditions and the nearly 640,000 in our state who receive health care through the Medicaid Expansion, can breathe a sigh of relief that their live-saving care will not be interrupted by politicians. Expanding Medicaid was my first official act as governor because it was the right thing to do then, and it is still the right thing today.

I, like so many people in Louisiana, am thankful for the care and coverage provided through the historic Affordable Care Act. We have literally saved lives in Louisiana through the Medicaid Expansion and I shudder to think of what would have happened if we had not been able to provide health coverage to people who needed it during the global COVID-19 pandemic