Study comes as opening briefs are filed in Texas Republican-led lawsuit to eliminate the entire Affordable Care Act
Today, backers of the Texas Republican-led lawsuit will submit their briefs to the U.S. Supreme Court ahead of oral arguments this fall, a major step forward in their political suicide mission to have the Court strike down the entirety of the Affordable Care Act with no replacement.
At the same time, a new study shows the devastation the lawsuit would unleash on health care in the Lone Star State, if successful. Amid a pandemic, an estimated 1.95 million Texans would see health care stripped away from them and gutted protections for those with pre-existing conditions, including the hundreds of thousands of Texans who have lost jobs and health coverage due to the coronavirus pandemic.
As the Associated Press reported in May, “COVID-19 could have stamped a person ‘uninsurable’ if not for the Affordable Care Act. The ban on insurers using preexisting conditions to deny coverage is a key part of the Obama-era law that the Trump administration still seeks to overturn.”
If Texas Republicans have their way, those protections would be eliminated.
“The few remaining Texas Republican congressmen who haven’t retired will have to defend their repeated votes to defend this reckless lawsuit that would strip health care away from 2 million Texans,” DCCC spokesman Avery Jaffe said. “As for politicians like Wesley Hunt, Beth Van Duyne and Genevieve Collins, every Texas Republican on the ballot has expressed their heartfelt opposition to the Affordable Care Act and will own the consequences of standing in between Texans with pre-existing conditions and their health care amid a pandemic.”
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