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Washington, DC — Yesterday, West Virginia’s Republican Attorney General announced a proposal that claims to offer protections for West Virginians with pre-existing conditions despite his ongoing support for the disastrous Trump-Texas lawsuit that would eliminate those protections from 135 million Americans including more than 700,000 West Virginians. West Virginia is one of the 18 Republican-led states who have joined the Trump administration in support of the Texas lawsuit that seeks to eliminate the entire Affordable Care Act. In response, Protect Our Care Executive Director Brad Woodhouse released the following statement:

“West Virginia Republicans claim this proposed legislation protects people with pre-existing conditions, but it’s nothing more than political cover while they seek to eliminate those protections. If Republicans like Attorney General Morrisey were serious about guaranteeing protections for pre-existing conditions they would not have signed on to the disastrous Texas lawsuit that seeks to eliminate health coverage for 20 million Americans and strip protections from more than 700,000 West Virginians with pre-existing conditions. It is clear that this legislation is another one of the GOP’s phony attempts at claiming support for protections for pre-existing conditions while simultaneously waging a war in court to eliminate them.”

BACKGROUND:

If Trump Gets His Way, Insurance Companies Would Be Put Back In Charge, Ending Protections For The 135 Million People Nationwide With A Pre-Existing Condition

• According to a recent analysis by the Center for American Progress, roughly half of nonelderly Americans, or as many as 135 million people, have a pre-existing condition. This includes:
  • 44 million people who have high blood pressure
  • 45 million people who have behavioral health disorders
  • 44 million people who have high cholesterol
  • 34 million people who have asthma and chronic lung disease
  • 34 million people who have osteoarthritis and other joint disorders
• 716,400 West Virginians have a pre-existing condition, including 89,400 West Virginia children, 352,000 West Virginia women, and 182,900 West Virginians between ages 55 and 64. 

If the Texas lawsuit is successful in overturning the ACA, West Virginians with pre-existing conditions would be at risk:

• Insurance Companies Could Charge Premium Surcharges in the Six Figures. If the Trump-GOP lawsuit is successful, insurance companies would be able to charge people more because of a pre-existing condition. The health repeal bill the House passed in 2017 had a similar provision, and an analysis by the Center for American Progress found that insurers could charge up to $4,270 more for asthma, $17,060 more for pregnancy, $26,180 more for rheumatoid arthritis and $140,510 more for metastatic cancer.
• Insurance Companies Would Not Have to Provide the Coverage You Need. The Affordable Care Act made comprehensive coverage more available by requiring insurance companies to include “essential health benefits” in their plans, such as maternity care, hospitalization, substance abuse care and prescription drug coverage. Before the ACA, people had to pay extra for separate coverage for these benefits. For example, in 2013, 75 percent of non-group plans did not cover maternity care, 45 percent did not cover substance abuse disorder services, and 38 percent did not cover mental health services. Six percent did not even cover generic drugs.
• Insurance Companies Could Reinstate Lifetime and Annual Limits On 581,000 Privately Insured West Virginians. Repealing the Affordable Care Act means insurance companies would be able to impose annual and lifetime limits on coverage for those insured through their employer or on the individual market.
• Insurance Companies Could Once Again Deny Coverage To People With Pre-Existing Conditions. Thanks to the ACA, all health insurance plans must allow you to enroll regardless of health status, age, gender, or other factors that might predict the use of health service. This is particularly important for the 135 million Americans who live with a pre-existing condition, who might otherwise be unable to afford health insurance.

Day 2 of Protect Our Care’s 11 Days of Action on the Consequences of the Trump-Texas Lawsuit Highlights Protections for Pre-Existing Conditions

Last month, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the Trump administration and Republicans in Texas vs. United States, striking down as unconstitutional the ACA’s individual mandate and remanding to the lower court judge a final decision on what parts of the ACA should be eliminated – the very judge who has already ruled the entire law unconstitutional. If President Trump and Republicans have their way, 20 million Americans will lose their insurance coverage, 135 million Americans with pre-existing conditions will be stripped of their protections, and costs will go up for millions. 

“The Fifth Circuit’s disastrous decision on President Trump’s Texas lawsuit puts the health care of millions of Americans at risk. The court’s decision will impact every corner of the American health care system, threatening protections for 135 million Americans with pre-existing conditions and access to care for children, seniors, women, individuals with disabilities, and LGBTQ Americans in communities across the country,” said Protect Our Care Executive Director Brad Woodhouse. “Over the course of the next two weeks, we will be reminding Americans what’s really at stake if the courts ultimately overturn the health care law.” 

Days of Action: Day 2 of 11 focuses on Protections For People With Pre-Existing Conditions. To learn more about our Days of Action, visit our website.

What’s At Stake: Protections For People With Pre-Existing Conditions

Without the ACA, protections for 135 million Americans with pre-existing conditions will be eliminated overnight, and the uninsured rate will increase by 65 percent. 

The ACA included four key provisions that protect people with pre-existing conditions. If the law is overturned in the Texas lawsuit: 

• GONE: Rule that forbids insurance companies from denying coverage to people with pre-existing conditions. 
• GONE: Rule that prevents insurers from charging people with pre-existing conditions more. 
• GONE: Requirements that insurance companies cover essential health benefits, such as prescription drugs and maternity care.
• GONE: Ban on insurance companies having lifetime caps on coverage.

Premium Surcharges Can Once Again Be In The Six Figures. Thanks to the Republican lawsuit, insurance companies can charge people more because of a pre-existing condition. The House-passed repeal bill had a similar provision, and an analysis by the Center for American Progress found that insurers could charge up to $4,270 more for asthma, $17,060 more for pregnancy, $26,180 more for rheumatoid arthritis and $140,510 more for metastatic cancer.

More Than 140 Million Americans Could Once Again Have To Pay For Preventive Care. Because of the ACA, private health plans must cover preventive services — like flu shots, cancer screenings, contraception, and mammograms – at no cost to consumers. More than 140 million Americans are enrolled in plans that provide free preventive services, including 133 million people with employer coverage. 

Reinstate Lifetime and Annual Limits On 109 Million Privately Insured Americans. Repealing the Affordable Care Act means insurance companies would be able to impose annual and lifetime limits on coverage for those insured through their employer or on the individual market. In 2009, prior to the implementation of the ACA, 59 percent of workers covered by employer-sponsored health plans had a lifetime limit. 

Republicans Want To Put Insurance Companies Back In Charge, Ending Protections For The 135 Million People With A Pre-Existing Condition

• According to a recent analysis by the Center for American Progress, roughly half of nonelderly Americans, or as many as 135 million people, have a pre-existing condition. This includes:
  • 44 million people who have high blood pressure
  • 45 million people who have behavioral health disorders
  • 44 million people who have high cholesterol
  • 34 million people who have asthma and chronic lung disease
  • 34 million people who have osteoarthritis and other joint disorders
• More than 17 million children, 68 million women, and 32 million people aged 55-64 have a pre-existing condition.

American Cancer Society, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American DIabetes Association, American Heart Association, American Lung Association, and National Multiple Sclerosis Society: “Striking Down These Provisions Would Be Catastrophic And Have Dire Consequences For Many Patients With Serious Illnesses.” [American Cancer Society et. al, 6/14/18]

Last month, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the Trump administration and Republicans in Texas vs. United States, striking down as unconstitutional the ACA’s individual mandate and remanding to the lower court judge a final decision on what parts of the ACA should be eliminated – the very judge who has already ruled the entire law unconstitutional. If President Trump and Republicans have their way, 20 million Americans will lose their insurance coverage, 135 million Americans with pre-existing conditions will be stripped of their protections, and costs will go up for millions. 

“The Fifth Circuit’s disastrous decision on President Trump’s Texas lawsuit puts the health care of millions of Americans at risk. The court’s decision will impact every corner of the American health care system, threatening health care access for children, seniors, women, individuals with disabilities, and LGBTQ Americans in communities across the country,” said Protect Our Care Executive Director Brad Woodhouse. “Over the course of the next two weeks, we will be reminding Americans what’s really at stake if the courts ultimately overturn the health care law.” 

Days of Action: Day 1 of 11 focuses on Medicaid Expansion. To learn more about our Days of Action, visit our website.

From POLITICO Pulse: “…Advocates launch campaign on Obamacare lawsuit’s consequences. Protect Our Care is starting an 11-day campaign ‘centered on the real-world impacts of overturning the ACA,’ the pro-Obamacare group shared first with PULSE. Today’s events will focus on the effects of rolling back the ACA’s Medicaid expansion; future ‘days of action’ will focus on how LGBTQ patients, seniors and other populations have benefited from the law.”

What’s At Stake: Medicaid Expansion

Overturning the Affordable Care Act would take coverage away from millions of working families and children who finally gained health coverage thanks to Medicaid expansion.

17 Million People Are Currently Enrolled Through Medicaid Expansion

Medicaid Expansion Led To Gains In Coverage For Children. A study in Health Affairs found that “710,000 children gained public coverage when their parents enrolled in Medicaid between 2013 and 2015. If the remaining 19 non-expansion states expanded Medicaid, 200,000 additional children would gain health coverage through existing programs. The effect was largest among children whose parents gained Medicaid eligibility through the expansion.”  [Georgetown University Center for Children and Families, 1/12/18]

Medicaid Expansion Saved Lives. A report by the Center On Budget And Policy Priorities found that “the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) expansion of Medicaid to low-income adults is preventing thousands of premature deaths each year, a landmark study finds.[1] It saved the lives of at least 19,200 adults aged 55 to 64 over the four-year period from 2014 to 2017. Conversely, 15,600 older adults died prematurely because of state decisions not to expand Medicaid.” [Center On Budget And Policy Priorities, 11/6/19] 

If the Affordable Care Act is struck down:

• Seventeen Million People Enrolled Through Medicaid Expansion Could Lose Coverage.
• Access To Treatment Would Be In Jeopardy For 800,000 People With Opioid Use Disorder. Roughly four in ten, or 800,000 people with an opioid use disorder are enrolled in Medicaid. Many became eligible through Medicaid expansion.
• Key Support For Rural Hospitals Would Disappear, leaving hospitals with $9.6 billion more in uncompensated care. 
• States  Would Lose Important Federal Health Care Funding — an estimated reduction of $135 billion in the first year. The Urban Institute estimates that a full repeal of the ACA would reduce federal spending on Medicaid/CHIP care and Marketplace subsidies by $135 billion, or 34.6 percent in the first year.

Cert Petitions Filed Today Make Clear Case for Why SCOTUS Should Take Up the Trump-Texas Lawsuit Immediately

Washington, DC — Today, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra along with other Democratic state Attorneys General and the U.S. House of Representatives filed cert petitions to the Supreme Court in Texas v. United States, the Trump-backed lawsuit to overturn the Affordable Care Act. The petitioners argue that the court should take this case immediately and end the partisan attack on Americans’ health care. Before the holidays, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals struck down as unconstitutional the ACA’s individual mandate and remanded the case back to the lower court judge the decision on what other parts of the ACA should be eliminated – the very judge who has already ruled the entire law unconstitutional. In response to the cert petition, Protect Our Care Chair Leslie Dach issued the following statement:

“The Fifth Circuit has purposefully injected partisan politics into our health care system. The decision by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to first delay its ruling and then remand the case back to the same judge who has already declared the entire law unconstitutional is a blatant attempt to spare President Trump and Republicans from the political consequences of destroying our health care during an election year. The Supreme Court now has the responsibility to hear this case and get the politics out of our health care system and to end the uncertainty hanging over America’s health care. If President Trump and Republicans have their way, 20 million Americans will lose their insurance coverage, 135 million Americans with pre-existing conditions will be stripped of their protections, and costs will go up for millions. Without immediate action from the Supreme Court, the fate of their health care will cruelly and needlessly hang in the balance far too long.”

Trump Rings in the New Year the Same Way He Spent 2019: On the Defensive on Health Care 

News reports from over the holidays detail that Trump and Republicans are on defense over a disastrous health care repeal lawsuit and running scared from a dangerous health care repeal “plan” that they don’t even want to talk about. Meanwhile, drug companies start the year with hike prices while Democrats have the advantage when it comes to lowering the prices of prescription drugs heading into the election year. 

Vox: Trump really doesn’t want to talk about his health care record

Associated Press: 3 years in, no sign of Trump’s replacement for Obamacare

POLITICO: Democrats seize on anti-Obamacare ruling to steamroll GOP in 2020

New York Times: Democrats Who Flipped Seats in 2018 Have a 2020 Playbook: Focus on Drug Costs

Reuters: More drugmakers hike U.S. prices as new year begins

From start to finish, the top issue for the American people in 2019 was health care. The year started with a new Democratic House majority built on public opposition to Republican health care repeal and ended on the GOP lawsuit to try yet again overturn the Affordable Care Act. 

The Democratic House majority passed landmark reforms to protect pre-existing conditions and to reduce the price of prescription drugs and  voters backed pro-health care candidates to flip the Virginia legislature, re-elect the Louisiana’s Democratic governor and oust Kentucky’s Republican governor. 

At the end of 2018, the midterm elections showed…

• 2018 national exit polls confirmed health care was the top issue for voters, with 41 percent listing it as the top issue facing the country. [CNN, November 2018] 

As the new Congress began, Americans priorities were clear…

• Health care almost tied with economy with 69% ranking reducing health care costs as the top priority for Congress and Trump. [Pew Research Center, January 2019]  

Through summer 2019….

• APRIL: 55% of Americans worry “a great deal” about the availability and affordability of health care, topping Gallup’s list of Americans’ worries for the fifth straight year. [Gallup, 4/1/19] 
• MAY: 45% of Democrats, 30% of Republicans and 31% of independents ranked health care as their top concern in a May RealClear Opinion Research Poll. [Axios, 5/21/19] 
• JUNE: Americans cited health care as the top issue for the federal government to address, ahead of the economy, immigration, national security and other issues, according to a June 2019 Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll. [Wall Street Journal, 6/2/19]
• SEPTEMBER: Health care topped the list of most important issues among registered voters ahead of 2020, with 51% ranking as “extremely important” in a September 2019 CNN poll. [CNN, 9/11/19] 

In the 2019 elections, health care dominated and pro-health care candidates won…

• Vox: “Health Care Is On The Ballot In State Elections Starting Next Week” [Vox, 10/29/19] 
• POLITICO: “Democrats Bet Big On Obamacare To Win Virginia Statehouse” [Politico, 9/4/19] 
• Axios: “Matt Bevin’s Loss In Kentucky Is A Health Care Setback For Trump” [Axios, 11/6/19] 
• Forbes: “In Blow To Trump’s Medicaid Policies, Democrat Wins In Louisiana” [Forbes, 11/16/19] 

One year out from 2020, health care still tops the list…

• November 2019 Fox News Poll Found Health Care Tops The List Of Issues That Will Be “Extremely Important” To Their 2020 Presidential Vote. “Slim majorities of voters say health care (53 percent) and the economy (52 percent) will be extremely important to their vote for president in November 2020.” [Fox News, 11/4/19] 
• November 2019 Kaiser Family Foundation Tracking Poll Found Health Care Remains Top Issue For Democrats. [Kaiser Family Foundation, 11/20/19] 
• November 2019 YouGov Poll Found That Health Care Is The Number #1 Issue For Voters. [The Economist/YouGov, November 2019] 
• December 2019 Quinnipiac Poll Found That 85 Percent Of Voters Said That Health Care Is “Very Important” To Their Vote For President. [Quinnipiac, 12/10/19] 

Yesterday, Protect Our Care held more than a dozen press events across the country with members of Congress, attorneys general, state and local elected officials, patient advocates and people with pre-existing conditions in reaction to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling in favor of the Trump-Republican lawsuit that puts Americans’ health care coverage at risk.

Here’s some of the coverage from yesterday’s events:

Rochester Post Bulletin (MN): ‘The ACA Is 10 Points More Popular Than The President’: Advocates Fear Looming End To Obamacare Provisions. “For Slavitt, prolonging its court challenges harms the economic welfare of Americans who take security in its stability. ‘It’s still the law of the land, but the longer this case is out there the more uncertainty it creates,’ he said. ‘If you are contemplating leaving your job and being a freelancer, and you have a kid with asthma, this does affect your life, because now you’re not sure if two years from now, someone is going to say you don’t have to be offered insurance that protects your kid’s asthma. Healthcare is an underpinning which keeps people in a middle class life, with economic mobility. Any time you undermine those things, you’re undermining people’s ability to live the kind of life they want to live.’”

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA): What’s Next: Patients Insured Through Obamacare Worry After Court Ruling. “Ms. Raslevich, the mother of two high school students, has been treated for breast cancer since July 2017. Although she faces future operations, her disease is in remission and it was caught early. She’s covered by a student health plan that will end when she graduates, which means she will have to shop for coverage in the commercial market. In the meantime, she worries about making financial decisions that could impact her ability to pay for future medical care. ‘Once I read the news last night, I spent the evening crying,’ she said. ‘I couldn’t sleep.’” 

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (WI): AG Josh Kaul Weighs In On Obamacare In Wake Of Federal Court Decision To Strike Down Key Part Of The Act. “‘Earlier this year we withdrew the state of Wisconsin from this lawsuit, which is seeking to overturn the Affordable Care Act,’ Kaul said Thursday. ‘And there are a couple of basic reasons for that. One is, the legal challenge in my view is extremely weak. And I think that will ultimately be borne out in court decisions in this case. And much more importantly, this lawsuit is going to be harmful to the best interests of the people of the state of Wisconsin if it’s successful.’”

Star Tribune (MN): Editorial: Legal Threat To ACA Ought To Be Front And Center In 2020 Election. Health care law is once again in legal jeopardy. “The ruling’s timing puts it at risk of being overshadowed by the drama in Washington, D.C. But the nation can ill afford to simply set this aside. Overturning a law that’s been in place for nearly a decade would result in serious disruption of the nation’s health care system. What would happen to the nearly 13 million low-income Americans who became newly eligible for Medicaid coverage under the ACA? How would families who rely on the ACA’s subsidies to buy insurance continue to afford it? Would there be another program to help seniors who found prescription drug cost relief through the ACA’s closure of the Medicare ‘doughnut hole’?”

Georgia Recorder (GA): Georgians React To Federal Appeals Court Ruling Against Obamacare. “State Rep. David Dreyer, an Atlanta Democrat, blamed Carr and other state attorneys general seeking to overturn the law. ‘We have rogue actors working with rogue attorney generals,’ Dreyer said at the Capitol Wednesday. ‘Our own attorney general right here is literally fighting every day to strip health care from millions of Georgians.’’ 

Maine Public Radio (ME): Democratic State Lawmakers Denounce Court’s Ruling Declaring Part Of ACA Unconstitutional. “Democratic state Rep. Thom Harnett says Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins paved the way for the lawsuit that challenges the ACA when she cast a deciding vote in support of the 2017 Congressional tax bill. ‘So while this is a horrible day for our nation, it is particularly troubling for Maine and its residents given the fact that it was our senator who chose to side with the wealthiest and those getting tax cuts, instead of Mainers who need health care,’ he says.” 

WLOS (NC): North Carolina AG Could Join Others In Fighting Affordable Care Act Ruling. “‘The Trump administration and the 18 attorneys general that brought this case will have put an incredible hole in people’s ability to stay alive and to be healthy,’ Stein said. He said more than 4 million people in North Carolina with pre-existing conditions before the Affordable Care Act could be denied coverage by the insurance companies, 500,000 thousand who can now afford healthcare and the 1.8 million seniors who can better afford prescription drugs. ‘While we are deeply disappointed with the court of appeals decision yesterday, this fight is by no means over,’ Stein said.” 

WSYX (OH): Concerns Over Affordable Care Act After Court Rules “Individual Mandate” Unconstitutional. “‘It is troubling to see Republican leaders celebrating like this is an early Christmas present. This is something that instead the American people are getting lumps of coal in their stockings,’ said Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein…’We are at the precipice of having the Affordable Care Act completely shut down, which is going to jeopardize the millions of Americans, tens of thousands of people right here in the City of Columbus who have pre-existing conditions,’ he said.” 

The Center Square (CO): AG Weiser: Colorado Will ‘Continue To Stand Up Against’ Federal Gov’t Following ACA Ruling That Struck Down Individual Mandate. “Weiser said that 700,000 Coloradans who have pre-existing conditions are able to get healthcare through the ACA, along with 400,000 Coloradans through Medicaid. ‘We must continue to stand up against the federal government’s attacks on healthcare and the Justice Department’s wrongful decision to challenge – rather than defend – this important law,’ he added.” 

WVII (ME): State Legislators React To Fifth Circuit Court Decision On Affordable Care Act. “‘The consequences here are absolutely stark, the real critical piece is that it is going to strip the financial support for lower and middle-class Americans who are using tax credits to help them afford individual coverage when their health insurance is not provided by their employer,’ said Senator Heather Sanborn, D-Portland.”

KCNC (CO): Appeals Court: Affordable Care Act Is Partially Unconstitutional. “A federal appeals court has ruled the Obama-era Affordable Care Act is partially unconstitutional. The decision covers the portion of the health law requiring people to have coverage, which is a key provision of the ACA.” 

After the 5th Circuit Court announced their decision in the Trump-Republican lawsuit that puts the future of Americans’ health care at grave risk, legal experts and editorial boards were quick to weigh in with near-universal condemnation of the court’s ruling.  

Washington Post // Editorial Board: Republicans, end this bizarre, belated crusade against Obamacare “Since the collapse of repeal-and-replace, one could imagine that Republicans’ anti-Obamacare fever had finally broken. But the Trump administration and its allies are pressing one last, desperate attempt to unravel the law…”

New York Times // Editorial Board: The Legal Threat to Obamacare Is Back. Again. “Maybe that was the plan all along: to mire the future of Obamacare in litigation, and thus provide Republicans a lifeline on an issue that cost them dearly in the 2018 election. They can continue to degrade the vital protections of Obamacare without taking responsibility for repealing and replacing it, as they so often promised they would.”

Minnesota Star Tribune // Editorial Board: Legal Threat To ACA Ought To Be Front And Center In 2020 Election. “But it’s President Donald Trump and Republicans who should shoulder the responsibility for planning for the chaos the law’s demise could cause. Eliminating the ACA has been something close to a GOP political holy grail. Yet replacement plans offered up, such as those authored by Congressional Republicans in 2017, would result in far fewer Americans having insurance. The ACA is in real jeopardy. Those who put it there owe the nation a serious game plan to clean up the mess they worked to create.”

Philadelphia Inquirer // Robert Field: Americans’ Health Care – And Pre-existing Condition Coverage – Is Again At Risk. “Losing the entire ACA would create chaos throughout the health care system. It could also undermine the integrity of the legal system, since courts would have succeeded in overturning a major piece of legislation without a coherent justification. Of course, neither outcome seems to concern the law’s opponents or the judges who have most recently ruled against it.”

NBC News // Leah Litman: Obamacare ruling voiding part of health care law as unconstitutional is a sick joke “The appellate court decision handed down Wednesday on the Affordable Care Act is a joke, but the people who depend on the ACA for health insurance won’t be laughing.”

New York Times // Abbe R. Gluck: Who Should You Blame if You Lose Your Health Care? “The average American may not realize it because the decision was paused pending appeal, but the consequences of eliminating the health law will be staggering.”

The Atlantic // Nicholas Bagley: A Case That Should Have Been Laughed Out of Court May Kill Obamacare. “The case is a partisan stunt that’s been roundly condemned by lawyers on both sides of the aisle. It should’ve been laughed out of contention long ago. The opinion from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit is an embarrassment, both to the Republican-appointed judges who put their names to it and to the federal judiciary as a whole.” 

Yesterday, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the Trump administration and Republicans in Texas vs. United States, striking down the ACA’s individual mandate as unconstitutional and remanding to the lower court judge a final decision on what parts of the ACA should be eliminated. Coverage of the court’s decision made clear that terminating the law will put tens of millions of Americans at risk of losing coverage and could “upend the nation’s entire health care system.” 

New York Times: “Some 17 Million Americans Could Lose The Coverage Gained Through The Affordable Care Act If The Law Were Thrown Out.” “Some 17 million Americans could lose the coverage gained through the Affordable Care Act if the law were thrown out, more than 50 million people with pre-existing medical conditions could again be denied health insurance and insurers would no longer have to cover people up to age 26 under their parents’ plans.” [New York Times, 12/18/19] 

NPR/Kaiser Health News: “The Decision Could Upend The Nation’s Entire Health Care System.” “The stakes could not be higher. The case is widely expected to end up at the Supreme Court. California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, who is leading a coalition of states defending the health law, announced Wednesday night that he would appeal to the high court immediately. And if the high court — which has upheld the ACA twice since its original passage in 2010 — agrees with the appeals court, the decision could upend the nation’s entire health care system.” [NPR, 12/18/19] 

Bloomberg Law: Obamacare Fate In Limbo As Mandate Tossed, Court Fight Rages On. “The fate of the Affordable Care Act was thrown back into limbo after a federal appeals court found a key piece of the original law unconstitutional, then kicked the case back to the judge who struck it down a year ago.” [Bloomberg Law, 12/18/19] 

Los Angeles Times: “The Case Could Strip Coverage From As Many As 20 Million People And Eliminate Scores Of Other Protections.” “If Texas and its allies were to fully prevail, the case could strip coverage from as many as 20 million people and eliminate scores of other protections contained in the healthcare law, including prescription drug assistance for seniors who rely on the Medicare Part D program and a popular rule allowing young people to remain on their parents’ health plans until they are 26.” [Los Angeles Times, 12/18/19] 

Wall Street Journal: “If The ACA Is Ultimately Wiped Out In Court, The Trump Administration Faces The Possibility That The Number Of Americans Without Health Insurance Would Rise Dramatically.” “If the ACA is ultimately wiped out in court, the Trump administration faces the possibility that the number of Americans without health insurance would rise dramatically. The number of non-elderly people who are uninsured dropped by 19 million from 2010 to 2017 as the ACA went into effect.”  [Wall Street Journal, 12/18/19] 

Associated Press: After Judge Stuck Down The Individual Mandate, The Ultimate Fate Of The Rest Of The Law Including Protections For Pre-Existing Conditions “Remains Unclear.” “The 2-1 ruling handed down by a panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans means the ultimate fate of the rest of the Affordable Care Act including such popular provisions as protections for those with pre-existing conditions, Medicaid expansion and the ability for children under the age of 26 to remain on their parents’ insurance remains unclear.” [Associated Press, 12/18/19] 

Reuters: “The Fate Of The Signature Domestic Achievement Of Democratic Former President Barack Obama Remains In Limbo.” “The court, however, avoided answering the key question of whether the rest of the law can remain in place or must be struck down, instead sending the case back to a district court judge for further analysis. That means the fate of the signature domestic achievement of Democratic former President Barack Obama remains in limbo.” [Reuters, 12/18/19] 

Washington Post: If The ACA Is Overturned, “The Most Popular Element That Would Come Unglued Is Insurance Protections For Americans With Pre-Existing Medical Conditions.” “If the appellate decision is upheld, the most popular element that would come unglued is insurance protections for Americans with preexisting medical conditions — the issue that helped House Democrats regain the majority in last year’s elections. Other elements of the law that are at potential risk include insurance subsidies for most people buying health plans through ACA marketplaces, designed for individuals and families that cannot get affordable health benefits through a job; the expansion of Medicaid in three dozen states; the ability of young adults to stay on their parents’ insurance policies until they turn 26; and no-charge preventive care for older Americans on Medicare.” [Washington Post, 12/18/19] 

Politico: “The High-Stakes Ruling Keeps The Legal Threat To Obamacare Alive.” “The high-stakes ruling keeps the legal threat to Obamacare alive while reducing the likelihood the Supreme Court could render a final verdict on the law before the next elections. Still, the appeals court’s decision could renew pressure on President Donald Trump and Republicans to explain how they will preserve insurance protections for preexisting conditions after failing to agree on an Obamacare replacement for years.” [Politico, 12/18/19] 

CNN: The Decision “Thrusts The Issue Of Health Care Into The Forefront” Of The 2020 Campaign. “The 2-1 decision by the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals likely pushes any Supreme Court action on Obamacare until after the 2020 election but again thrusts the issue of health care into the forefront of the campaign — and extends the uncertainty surrounding the future of the landmark law, long a political target for President Donald Trump and other Republicans.” [CNN, 12/18/19] 

CNN: Following The Trump Administration’s Argument To Invalidate The Law In GOP States “Would Throw The Nation’s Health Care System Into Chaos.” “Invalidating the law in only the 18 states in the lawsuit would throw the nation’s health care system into chaos and deepen the inequality of access to health care that already exists. Also, several provisions — such as making it easier to obtain lower-cost versions of certain complex drugs, changing Medicare payment rates or increasing certain taxes on wealthier Americans — would be difficult to divide up by state.” [CNN, 12/18/19] 

USA Today: The Decision Could “Jeopardize Health Insurance For Millions Of Americans And Set Up An Election-Year Showdown At The Supreme Court.” “A federal appeals court in New Orleans struck down a major part of the Affordable Care Act on Wednesday, a decision that eventually could jeopardize health insurance for millions of Americans and set up an election-year showdown at the Supreme Court.” [USA Today, 12/18/19] 

The Hill: Court Ruling Reignites ObamaCare Fight For 2020. “ObamaCare was thrust back into the 2020 spotlight on Wednesday after a federal appeals court ruling added new uncertainty over the law’s future.” [The Hill, 12/19/19] 

ABC News: There Is No “Viable Alternative” To The ACA. There is not currently a viable alternative to the law that can pass the House and Senate and get signed into law by Trump. Trump told ABC News in June that he will be unveiling a “phenomenal” health care plan within the next two months. He never did so.” [ABC, 12/18/19] 

The Hill “The Ruling Keeps The Legal Threat To Obamacare Alive.” “The ruling keeps the legal threat to ObamaCare alive and could push the ultimate decision on the case past 2020.”  [The Hill, 12/18/19] 

Appeals Court Sides with GOP Led Plaintiffs in Declaring Law Unconstitutional, Remands Final Decision to Judge who Already Said Entire Law Should Fall

Washington, DC — Today, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the Trump administration and Republicans in Texas vs. United States, striking down as unconstitutional the ACA’s individual mandate and remanding to the lower court judge a final decision on what parts of the ACA should be eliminated – the very judge who has already ruled the entire law unconstitutional. The fix is in.

In response to the court’s decision, Protect Our Care Chair Leslie Dach released the following statement:   

“This decision all but assures the entire health care law will be repealed. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals sided with President Trump and Republicans in declaring a key portion of the ACA unconstitutional and sent the rest back to a judge who has already ruled the entire law unconstitutional. The fix is in. Thanks to Trump and Republicans, every part of the of the ACA is on the chopping block.

“If the Trump administration and Republicans have their way in the end, 20 million Americans will lose their insurance coverage,135 million Americans with pre-existing conditions will be stripped of their protections, and costs will go up for millions. 

“Make no mistake, this is Donald Trump’s health care plan. President Trump and Republicans own this lawsuit and all of its devastating consequences; kick people off their coverage, take protections away from people with pre-existing conditions, and line the pockets of insurance and drug companies. From start to finish, this was a partisan lawsuit with the sole purpose of ripping health care away from American families.” 

BACKGROUND:

President Trump is trying to rip apart our health care by going to court to eliminate the Affordable Care Act in its entirety. If the court upholds its prior decision, it will strip coverage from millions of Americans, raise premiums, end protections for people with pre-existing conditions, put insurance companies back in charge, and force seniors to pay more for prescription drugs. The result will be to — as the Trump Administration itself admitted in Court — unleash “chaos” in our entire health care system. 

If Trump And His GOP Allies Have Their Way…Protections for more than 135 million people with preexisting conditions would be ripped away. Millions would pay more for drugs. More than 20 million would lose coverage altogether. Insurance companies would be able to sell policies that don’t cover you when you are sick and don’t even have to cover prescription drugs, cancer treatments or maternity care. 

The Trump Health Care Plan: higher costs, less coverage, gutting protections for pre-existing conditions and insurance companies having all the power.

Under The Trump Health Care Plan:

• GONE: Protections for 135 million Americans with pre-existing conditions will be gutted.
• GONE: More than 20 million Americans will lose coverage. The uninsured rate will increase by 65 percent. 
• GONE: Medicaid expansion, which covers 17 million people.
• GONE: Nearly 12 million seniors will have to pay more for prescription drugs because the Medicare ‘donut hole’ will be reopened. 
• GONE: Protections for older Americans that prevent them from being charged an “age tax.”
• GONE: 2.3 million adult children will no longer be able to stay on their parents’ insurance. 
• GONE: Insurance companies will be able to charge women more than men. 
• GONE: Financial assistance that helps 9 million people purchase health care in the marketplace will go away. 
• GONE: Key support for rural hospitals will be eliminated. As Americans lose coverage, already struggling hospitals will be hit even harder as their costs increase. 
• GONE: Ban on insurance companies having lifetime caps on coverage. 
• GONE: Requirements that insurance companies cover prescription drugs and maternity care. 

And There’s More: 

• GONE: Rules that ensure your hard-earned premium dollars go to your health care, not insurance company profits. 
• GONE: Contraception coverage for 60 million people who now have access to birth control with no out-of-pocket costs. 
• GONE: Consumer protections that prohibit drug companies from paying off doctors behind closed doors to influence the drugs they prescribe to patients. 
• GONE: A ban on discrimination against women, LGBTQ Americans, and individuals with disabilities in health care settings. 
• GONE: Essential protections for breastfeeding parents, including workplace standards and access to breast pumps with no out-of-pocket costs. 
• GONE: Legal authorization for the Indian Health Service, which provides basic health care services to 2.6 Million American Indians And Alaska Natives. 
• GONE: Medicare and Medicaid’s authority to test key programs that save money and help Americans receive better care. 
• GONE: Calorie counts on menus at restaurants.

Additional Details

• 138 Million Americans Could Once Again Have To Pay For Preventive Care. Because of the ACA, health plans must cover preventive services — like flu shots, cancer screenings, contraception, and mammograms – at no cost to consumers. This includes nearly 138 million Americans, most of whom have employer coverage.
• Women Could Be Charged More Than Men For The Same Coverage. Prior to the ACA, women, for example, were often charged premiums on the nongroup market of up to 50 percent higher than they charged men for the same coverage. 
• Nine Million People In The Marketplaces Would Pay More For Coverage. Thanks to the Republican lawsuit, consumers no longer have access to tax credits that help them pay their marketplace premiums, meaning roughly nine million people who receive these tax credits to pay for coverage will have to pay more.
• Seniors Will Have To Pay More For Prescription Drugs. Thanks to the Republican lawsuit, seniors will have to pay more for prescription drugs because the Medicare “donut” hole would be reopened. From 2010 to 2016, “more than 11.8 million Medicare beneficiaries have received discounts over $26.8 billion on prescription drugs – an average of $2,272 per beneficiary,” according to a January 2017 Centers on Medicare and Medicaid Services report.