John August, executive director of the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions, sends us this update on the Affordable Care Act and health care reform. The coalition is an alliance of 29 local unions representing 90,000 health care workers.

The Supreme Court decision upholding the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was great. No question! And while we are pleased with the direction of the law, there are still many obstacles that stand in the way of ultimate success.

About 15.8 million people will receive an estimated $1.34 billion in insurance company rebates on their 2011 health care premiums under a provision of the Affordable Care Act, according to a new study by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF). The rebates should be in consumers’ hands this August.

Today is the first anniversary of the landmark Affordable Care Act that has already helped tens of millions of Americans acquire or receive better health care and that has reined in health insurance companies’ most abusive practices.

More than 1,000 activists, including members of the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United (CNA/NNU), AFSCME, Health Care for America Now (HCAN) and Common Cause, helped shine a big spotlight on a closed-door gathering of right-wing billionaires and extreme conservative leaders and politicians in Palm Springs, Calif., yesterday.