If Their Lawsuit to Eliminate Pre-Existing Conditions Coverage Protections Succeeds, GOP Will “Delay Any Changes” Until After Election
Republicans know their attacks are so toxic it will hurt their candidates, so will try to hide the impact of their devastating policies
The Republican lawsuit to eliminate protections for pre-existing conditions coverage and tear down the health care law is so toxic with voters that if it’s successful, the GOP will “delay any changes” that result from their lawsuit until after the elections — an effort to prevent backlash against their candidates.
Republicans have “no viable plan for replacing health benefits for millions of Americans,” the GOP is moving forward with its reckless lawsuit to tear down the health care law. Vulnerable Senate Republicans voted for the tax giveaway that made this dangerous and deeply unpopular lawsuit possible, and have consistently refused to condemn their party’s legal attacks on their constituents’ care.
“Republicans know it’s wrong to take away people’s health care, they know it’s politically unpopular and they’re doing it anyway — and this is a new level of dishonesty,” said DSCC spokesperson Stewart Boss. “Voters don’t trust Republicans on health care, and they’ll have even more reason not to after learning the GOP is trying to hide the facts ahead of an election.”
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Washington Post: Trump administration plans to delay any changes if the ACA loses in court
By Paige Winfield Cunningham and Yasmeen Abutaleb
October 6, 2019
Key Points:
- The Trump administration, with no viable plan for replacing critical health benefits for millions of Americans, plans to seek a stay if a federal appeals court invalidates all or part of the Affordable Care Act in the coming weeks — and may try to delay a potential Supreme Court hearing on the matter until after the 2020 presidential election, according to current and former administration officials.
- The administration’s plan to seek a stay of any court ruling that undermines the law reflects the political disadvantages of its decision to side with GOP-led states seeking to topple the ACA, also known as Obamacare. Even as the Justice Department urges the courts to invalidate the entire ACA, administration officials are promising voters that there will be no immediate impact on their coverage.
- The administration also hopes to slow the case’s progress to the Supreme Court, to avoid having its efforts to invalidate the law spotlighted during President Trump’s reelection bid, two former administration officials said.
- Senior administration officials say their replacement “plan” is a statement of principles they plan to send to Congress… But the administration does not have a plan for a bipartisan bill that would cover as many people as the ACA and could pass Congress.
- Even when Republicans controlled both chambers of Congress and the White House in 2017, they repeatedly failed to deliver on an eight-year promise to repeal and replace the law. Most congressional Republicans are unwilling to revisit the health-care fight, which they fear will cost them more seats. Several Republican aides said their offices had not spoken with the administration about a contingency plan if the Affordable Care Act is struck down.
- The administration also does not want to put out a detailed plan for Democrats to pick apart just as the campaign heats up. Efforts to repeal the law in 2017 were highly unpopular, and government estimates showed that millions would lose their health insurance under Republican proposals.
Read the full story here.
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