​​North Carolinians will continue receiving Affordable Care Act subsidies following U.S. Supreme Court ruling

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RALEIGH, June 29, 2015 – The nearly half-million North Carolinians who are receiving health insurance subsidies under the Affordable Care Act will continue to do so following Thursday’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The court’s ruling in the case of King v. Burwell rejected a challenge to the health care law that sought to eliminate subsidies for residents of certain states, including North Carolina, which did not set up their own state-based “exchange” – an online marketplace for insurance plans – and instead relied on the federal exchange at www.HealthCare.gov.

“We want everyone to know that nothing has changed, and that we are here to provide free, expert help if people have questions about the Marketplace,” said Jennifer Simmons, an attorney with Legal Aid of North Carolina in Raleigh, who heads up the North Carolina Navigator Consortium, a coalition of Affordable Care Act navigators that helps consumers enroll in health insurance plans.

“If you’ve been getting subsidies, you will continue to get them, and you should continue to pay your premiums just as you’ve been doing,” Simmons said. “Today’s ruling by the Supreme Court upheld the status quo – nothing will change for you.”

Legal Aid of North Carolina and the other organizations of the NC Navigator Consortium have received federal funding since 2013 to train and deploy a corps of health care navigators who work one-on-one with consumers to help them understand the financial help that is available and enroll in affordable health insurance plans under the Affordable Care Act.

“Health insurance can be complicated, especially for people who’ve never had it,” Simmons said. “In North Carolina, consumers can get free, expert help by calling 1-855-733-3711, so they can make the best decision about health coverage for themselves and their families.”

More information about the Supreme Court’s decision is available at www.healthcare.gov/decision.

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Legal Aid of North Carolina is a statewide, nonprofit law firm that provides free legal services in civil matters to low-income people in order to ensure equal access to justice and remove legal barriers to economic opportunity. To learn more, visit www.legalaidnc.org or find us on Facebook and Twitter.

The North Carolina Navigator Consortium is a coalition of 15 organizations providing free, in-person expert help to North Carolina consumers seeking to enroll in affordable health insurance plans under the Affordable Care Act.

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