Hawley and Morrisey Lawsuit Puts Employer Coverage for People with Pre-Existing Conditions in Jeopardy

A new Axios report highlights how Josh Hawley and Patrick Morrisey’s lawsuit to eliminate protections for pre-existing conditions coverage threatens employer-based health insurance plans as well.

From Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee spokesman David Bergstein: “Josh Hawley and Patrick Morrisey will go to any lengths to push their dangerous agenda on health care, even if it means stripping coverage from millions of people with pre-existing conditions who receive coverage under their employers. Their lies about protecting that coverage have been laid bare, and voters will hold them accountable.”

Axios: ACA lawsuit also threatens protections in employer coverage

Key Points:

• Texas’ lawsuit over the Affordable Care Act could roll back protections for pre-existing conditions even among people who don’t get their coverage through the Affordable Care Act.
• Why it matters: These protections are the most popular part of the ACA, and have led to a lot of sick people getting coverage. Millions of people could lose all or part of that security if this lawsuit succeeds.
• How it works: Before the ACA, the federal privacy law known as HIPAA prevented employer-based insurance plans from denying employees coverage because of a pre-existing condition or charging those employee a higher premium. The ACA extended similar protections to people who buy insurance on their own.
• Yes, but: There’s a chance some of the HIPAA protections could go away if Texas’ lawsuit succeeds, because of the way the ACA incorporated them, Kaiser Health News reported.
• Even if the HIPAA protections remain in place, people enrolling in employer coverage could face waiting periods for coverage of their pre-existing conditions if the ACA’s protections are struck down.
• HIPAA allowed employer plans to wait up to 12 months to cover pre-existing conditions if a new enrollee hadn’t been continuously covered for at least 12 months prior.
• Republican attorneys general want the courts to strike down the entire ACA, while the Trump administration says only its protections for pre-existing conditions should fall.
• If the red states’ argument prevails in court, it would eliminate the ACA’s cap on how much enrollees pay out-of-pocket and its ban on annual and lifetime limits.
• For small businesses, the lawsuit would knock down the ACA’s ban on charging higher premiums based on health status or gender, and its limits on age variation.

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