(MCT) — Gov. Pat Quinn said the Supreme Court's ruling clears the way for Illinois to move forward with plans to expand health care, saying 1.5 million people who don't have coverage will qualify for insurance beginning Jan. 1, 2014.

"What we learned today is that the legal cloud has been eliminated, the U.S. Supreme Court, the highest court in our land, has said the Affordable Care Act is the law of the land and we in Illinois plan to carry it out," Quinn said. "The bottom line is more people in Illinois, folks who are raising kids, who are working jobs and who are living from pay check to pay check will now have an opportunity to get health care coverage."