Yesterday, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals brought the Trump lawsuit to destroy America’s health care into sharper focus when they asked for further briefing on the standing of the House of Representatives and intervenor states to appeal the case. This development comes just two weeks before the Fifth Circuit is slated to hear oral arguments in Donald Trump’s lawsuit that would destroy the health care of millions of Americans, end protections for 130 million Americans with pre-existing conditions and plunge our health care system into chaos. The threat of this lawsuit is real, and the American people – who understand their health care is at stake – will undoubtedly hold Republicans responsible for supporting Trump in his quest to destroy America’s health care.
Given yesterday’s developments here’s a reminder of what would happen if Trump’s lawsuit is successful:
Fact Sheet: Trump Lawsuit To Overturn ACA
State-By-State Impact Of Trump Lawsuit
If the Affordable Care Act is struck down:
GONE: Protections for 130 million Americans with pre-existing conditions. 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: 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 50 percent more than men.
GONE: Financial assistance that helps 9 million people purchase health care in the marketplace.
GONE: Key support for rural hospitals. 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.
Thanks To The Republican Lawsuit, Nearly 20 Million People Could Lose Their Coverage
According to the Urban Institute, 19.9 million people could lose coverage by repealing the Affordable Care Act, meaning the number of uninsured Americans would increase from 30.4 million to 50.3 million, representing a leading to a 65 percent increase in the uninsured rate. As the uninsured rate swells, so will the amount of uncompensated care, which Urban predicts will grow by at least 82 percent.
Republicans Want To Put Insurance Companies Back In Charge, Ending Protections For The 130 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 130 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
Republicans Want To Give Insurance Companies The Power To Charge You More, While Their Profits Soar
- 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.
- 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.
- Women Can 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.
- People Over The Age of 50 Can Face A $4,000 “Age Tax.” Thanks to the Republican lawsuit, insurance companies can charge people over 50 more than younger people. The Affordable Care Act limited the amount older people could be charged to three times more than younger people. If insurers were to charge five times more, as was proposed in the Republican repeal bills, that would add an average “age tax” of $4,124 for a 60-year-old in the individual market, according to the AARP.
- Nine Million People In The Marketplaces Will 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 got 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.
- Patients And States Would Lose Important Federal Health Care Funding — An Estimated Reduction Of $135 Billion In The First Year. The Urban Institute estimated that with a full repeal of the ACA, “Federal spending on Medicaid/CHIP acute care for the nonelderly and Marketplace premium tax credits in 2019 would fall by $134.7 billion, or 34.6 percent. The decline in federal Medicaid/CHIP spending alone would total $82.2 billion; the elimination of tax credits and reinsurance would reduce federal spending by $52.5 billion.”