Federal Court Puts in Jeopardy Our Nation’s Health Care System, Potentially Harming Millions of People’s Health and Financial Stability

Washington, D.C.—Today, US District Court Judge Reed O’Connor made his decision in the case Texas v. United States, a lawsuit against the Affordable Care Act (ACA) which threatens access to health care, quality of coverage, and financial protections for millions of people and their families.

Following is the statement of Frederick Isasi, executive director of Families USA:

“First, families in our nation need to know—because the ruling does not take effect immediately and is being appealed—that their health care coverage and financial protections are not currently affected. So, they should continue to see their doctor when they need to. Those who haven’t done so already can enroll in a marketplace health plan tomorrow, December 15^th, the last day of open enrollment.

“It’s unconscionable that the Trump administration, Republican leadership in Congress, and the Republican officials in the 20 states which filed and defended their heinous lawsuit against our nation’s health care, are choosing political ideology over the basic needs of families.

“Invalidating the Affordable Care Act would devastate 20 million people with low to moderate incomes who would lose meaningful coverage, including 12 million people who get their coverage through the Medicaid expansion and 8 million who purchase coverage in the individual market using federal subsidies. It would overturn basic consumer protections that we all enjoy—such as the provision that allows children under 26 years old to be covered under their parents’ health plans, prohibiting insurance companies from imposing lifetime and yearly dollar limits on coverage, and mandating that they cover preventive care at no extra cost to consumers. These protections apply to nearly 180 million people who get health insurance through their employer or purchase it on their own in the individual market.

“Texas and the other challengers should be working to reduce the number of uninsured families in their states instead of playing politics and trying to dismantle existing funding that makes coverage affordable and overturning critical consumer protections.”