GOP Knows Gutting Pre-Existing Conditions Protections Is Wrong and Are Doing It Anyway
Republicans know their attacks on health care protections for millions of Americans are wrong, and are doing it anyway. Following a new report on GOP plans to delay the impact of the dangerous lawsuit to tear down pre-existing condition protections until after the 2020 election, the Washington Post lays out all the possible outcomes for this reckless lawsuit that every Senate Republican on the ballot in 2020 set in motion with their corporate tax giveaway.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Washington Post: The Health 202: Here are all the ways a court could stymie Obamacare
By Paige Winfield Cunningham
Key Points:
- Any day now, a federal appeals court could rule on a lawsuit seeking to strike down Obamacare — a decision sure to inject even more drama into the fraught 2020 election.
- Legally, the Trump administration wants the Affordable Care Act wiped out. But politically, it’s a different story.
- The administration plans to seek a stay if the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit invalidates all or part of the Affordable Care Act in the coming weeks — and may even try to delay a potential Supreme Court hearing on the matter until after the November 2020 election
- Here’s why: Eliminating health coverage for around 20 million Americans who receive it through Obamacare isn’t exactly a winning political prospect — and many in the administration know that.
- Here’s why the administration isn’t eager for a quick Supreme Court hearing: If the justices heard the case as early as next spring, they could potentially hand down a ruling to invalidate all or parts of the ACA smack dab in the middle of Trump’s effort to get reelected.
- Let’s back up a minute. Trump’s Justice Department is siding with 18 Republican states that are arguing all of the ACA is unconstitutional without its penalty for lacking coverage — the basis the Supreme Court used to uphold the law back in 2012.
- Last year, a federal district judge in Texas ruled the entire law is unconstitutional, including its protections for people with preexisting conditions and its expansion of coverage through federally subsidized marketplaces and Medicaid expansion. A three-judge panel for the 5th Circuit is expected to issue an opinion on the case any day — although there’s no deadline for it to act, and a ruling could hypothetically be delayed until next year.
- As if this case weren’t already complicated enough, there are a number of decisions the appeals court could arrive at.
Read the full story here.
Here’s everything you need to know about Republicans’ dangerous and deeply unpopular campaign to tear down health care protections for millions of Americans:
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