Washington, D.C. – Health Care for America Now (HCAN), the nationwide coalition that led the successful fight for health reform, released the following statement from HCAN Executive Director Ethan Rome on President Obama's announced support for the Wyden-Brown proposal to give states earlier choices in how they implement the Affordable Care Act:

“After governors around the country asked for more flexibility, the president has responded with a proposal that accelerates when states can innovate with ways to implement the new health care law, provided they meet or exceed the same standards for high-quality, affordable care. The law has always recognized that the best way to expand and improve coverage is for states to implement reform in ways that are smart, efficient and work best for them without falling short of the health care law’s important quality and coverage benchmarks.

“Since the Affordable Care Act became the law of the land a year ago, Republicans in Congress and in some statehouses have been trying to undermine it. The law eliminates the worst health insurance company abuses and frees families, seniors and small businesses from crushing health care costs and devastating denials of care. The President’s proposal gives states more flexibility to achieve these goals.”