Health Care Repeal Lawsuit Digital Toolkit

Key Messages

Striking down the Affordable Care Act will fall harshly on America’s children, especially those who have a pre-existing condition. The law ensures that no child can be denied health care coverage based on a pre-existing condition.
If the ACA is struck down, parents of children with cancer, children born with a birth defect, children with asthma, and kids with special needs, among others, will no longer be able to get coverage for their children.
Because of the ACA, parents can keep their dependent children on their health plans up to age 26. They will lose extended coverage for their dependent children if the ACA is struck down.
If we lose the ACA, insurers will once again be able to set annual limits on coverage for children with pre-existing conditions.
20 million will lose access to healthcare coverage if the ACA is struck down.
If the health care repeal lawsuit is successful, it would strip coverage from millions of Americans, end protections for pre-existing conditions, raise premiums, force millions of seniors to pay more for prescription drugs, and put insurance companies back in charge. This would effectively destroy the entire backbone of our country’s health care system.
More of the same: More sabotage. New ways to rip health care from 20 million Americans. More tricks to fund tax breaks for the wealthy and line the pockets of already-wealthy corporate CEOs.
On December 18, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals asked the lower court for clarification about which pieces of the bill would be severable. Then in January, the coalition of Democratic attorneys general and the House of Representatives, who are defending the law, asked the Supreme Court to review the case on an expedited basis. While we await these further decisions, it is crucial to call out this sabotage on our health care system and emphasize that if the Affordable Care Act is struck down, health care costs will go up dramatically and millions of Americans will be left uninsured.

Testimony:
Frederick Isasi’s Written Testimony To The House Oversight And Reform Committee on Texas v. United States

Fast Facts:
Three Things You Need To Know About Texas v. United States Litigation

Issue Briefs on Effects of Losing the ACA

*Briefs were written prior to the Fifth Circuit decision, however the data has not been changed.

Our Experts' Twitter Handles

Suggested Tweets

@FamiliesUSA is committed to ensuring that all Americans have access to the best, most affordable healthcare and that they don’t go bankrupt in the process. #TexasvUS threatens to leave millions of people uninsured. #whatyouwilllose #healthcaresabotage

At @FamiliesUSA, healthcare consumers are our priority. Your stories, your pains, your triumphs drive us to continue advocating for you. In light of #TexasvUS we wanted to ask you: How would losing the #ACA impact you? Click the link to share your story. http://bit.ly/2uyH81c

Before the #ACA, insurance companies routinely denied people coverage because of a pre-existing condition or canceled coverage when a person got sick. Join @FamiliesUSA in fighting for the healthcare of millions of Americans with #PreExistingConditions! #healthcaresabotage

#TexasvUS is, at its core, an extremely overt form of #healthcaresabotage. Millions of Americans rely on the #ACA and if it hadn’t been for the #ACA, many Americans would not be alive today. Let’s do what’s right for the men, women and children of America! #handsoffmyhealthcare

Stories

Paul Gibbs

Paul Gibbs was born in with a serious medical condition in both kidneys, which required him to have 9 surgeries before he was 5 years old.

When he eventually needed a kidney transplant as an adult, he was uninsured, as it was very hard for someone born with serious medical issues to get insurance before the passage of the ACA. Paul had to rely on Medicare and Medicaid for the $79,000 surgery, but before he could even apply to Medicare, the insurance forced him to undergo 3 months of dialysis just to qualify, against the recommendation of his doctors. Paul was diagnosed with late stage kidney failure toward the end of the 2008, and couldn’t get his surgery until July 2009, despite his doctors saying he was fit for surgery the next day.

Thanks to the protections of the ACA, he was able to transition to private insurance within a few years and have his pre-existing condition protected. Because of this he is still here and his two sons, 3 years old and 4 months old, had a chance to be born. Paul’s younger son was born with a kidney condition that requires surgery. Without ACA protections, he would be branded for life and it would be nearly impossible for him to get insurance as an adult. Paul’s son had surgery on June 21 to prevent his right kidney from deteriorating more than it already has.

Paul credits the ACA with allowing him to live his life. “I wouldn’t be here without the ACA. My two children would not have a chance to be born… It gave me my life, it gave me family.”

Peter Morley

I have multiple conditions that would make a lapse of coverage disastrous, and through which I have seen the importance of the Affordable Care Act. I suffered a serious injury in 1997, before the passage of the Affordable Care Act, during a lapse in coverage. I had just begun a new job and was in the 3-month waiting period before my employer-based health plan would begin. I thus had to pay the costs of my physical therapy, epidural steroid injections, and medications out of my own pocket. Consequently, when I needed surgery after securing health insurance from my employer, my injury was considered a pre-existing condition, and all my claims were denied for the procedure. It was an incredible financial burden for years; totaling tens of thousands of dollars. Under HIPAA rules then in effect, an employer-based plan could deny coverage of pre-existing conditions for up to 12 months. The Affordable Care Act has since addressed this problem, prohibiting plans established after 2010 from excluding pre-existing conditions.

By 2011, I had suffered a series of disabling health problems. Including Kidney Cancer, which was found incidentally. I lost part of my right kidney and fought my way into remission. I obtained Medicare based on my disability and receive Medicaid intermittently through the “spend-down” provisions in months when I have significant medical bills.

I have benefitted from the Affordable Care Act’s requirement that Medicare pay for annual wellness checkups: through the checkup, I received in 2014, I was diagnosed with a suspicious mole on my back. Because was immediately referred to my dermatologist for a further screening, I was diagnosed with early-stage malignant melanoma. My life was thankfully spared from cancer, again.

At this point in my life, I have multiple conditions: lupus, Spinal Fusion Failure; Chronic Neuropathic Pain; Degenerative Disc Disease in both my cervical and lumbar spine; Renal Cell Carcinoma; BPH; Osteoporosis; Angiomyolipoma on my left kidney; Fibromyalgia; Sjogren’s Syndrome; Raynaud’s Phenomenon; Small Fiber Neuropathy; Nodular Regenerative Hyperplasia (non-cirrhotic Liver Disease) w/Portal Hypertension and Obliterative Portal Venopathy; and Adhesive Arachnoiditis (which there is no cure or successful treatment, and I am progressively losing the function of my right leg as it becomes paralyzed). I take 25 different medications daily, 38 yearly, and receive 12 lifesaving infusions yearly for my Lupus. Without access to insurance, I could not afford to pay for these medications and would lose access to my team of doctors. As a result, my disease would progress, and I could die.

The Affordable Care Act gradually closed the Medicare “donut hole,” saving me over $1000 annually in drug costs. Prior to the Affordable Care Act, Medicare would pay for a portion of my drugs until Medicare beneficiaries reached the “initial coverage limit” for the year. At that point, beneficiaries were responsible for all drug costs until they reached a catastrophic limit. The Affordable Care Act gradually phased down the amount people were required to pay out of pocket: in 2011, I was responsible for drug costs once I reached Medicare’s initial coverage limit of $2,840 until my spending reached the $4,550 threshold. Since that time, my out-of-pocket amounts have reduced significantly: the Affordable Care Act raised the initial coverage limit and provided me with manufacturer discounts on drugs until the donut hole was finally eliminated this year.

I have heard from thousands of other patients, caregivers and providers who have benefited and received help from the Affordable Care Act and who would be directly or indirectly devastated if the law was overturned. Some of their stories were noted in my July 10, 2019 testimony to the House Committee on Oversight and Reform. Additionally, I have helped a friend diagnosed with breast cancer to get coverage through an individual plan offered through the exchange, which has provided her access to life-saving treatment. Another friend, age 24, had been able to stay on her mother’s health plan to receive treatment for osteosarcoma.

If the Affordable Care Act does not remain in force, the ability to stay on a parent’s plan, receive individual coverage through the marketplace, receive annual check-ups through the Medicare program, and receive coverage without regard to pre-existing conditions will all end, harming me and people who are close to me. Despite my health challenges, I have flourished by the continuity of care provided to me by the Affordable Care Act. I am alive because of the ACA. And I am grateful to be here. As someone who has successfully navigated the ACA, I know how essential it is to protect our care. I also know that due to my advancing diagnoses I am thankful and appreciative for every day.