ChangeLab Solutions applauds today’s historic ruling by the United States Supreme Court to uphold the Affordable Care Act (ACA) as constitutional.

“Like Social Security and Medicare before it, the Affordable Care Act is a game-changer when it comes to helping millions of Americans live healthier lives,” said Marice Ashe, CEO and Founder of ChangeLab Solutions, which filed an amicus brief on behalf of the ACA. “This is a banner day for public health.”

“However, we must still be vigilant,” Ashe said. “Investing in healthy communities, where we can avoid chronic disease and injury over lifetimes, is what truly saves healthcare costs. We must now focus on protecting the Prevention and Public Health Fund.”

Congress created the Prevention and Public Health Fund—the nation’s first mandatory funding stream dedicated to public health programs—to control spiraling health care costs by investing in programs to reduce obesity, diabetes, and other preventable diseases. Annual medical care costs related to obesity are now said to exceed $190 billion. One of every five U.S. health care dollars is spent caring for people with diabetes, and estimates show that reducing diabetes and hypertension rates by just 5 percent would save about $9 billion a year.

“An investment in preventing chronic diseases will pay off financially, while providing benefits to Americans’ health, our economy, our international competitiveness, and our national security,” Ashe said. “Most importantly, it will have particular benefits for low income communities, communities of color, seniors, and schoolchildren.”

ChangeLab Solutions—formerly known as Public Health Law & Policy—is a national nonprofit creating law and policy innovation for the common good. We help transform neighborhoods, cities, and states with laws and policies that make communities more livable, especially for those with the fewest resources.