November 10, 2020
Coalition of 20 states and D.C.
defend the ACA in U.S. Supreme Court on November 10, 2020
Carson City,
NV – Today, Attorney
General Aaron D. Ford issued a statement on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) ahead
of today’s oral arguments before the United States Supreme Court in the health care
repeal case, California v. Texas. AG Ford joined a coalition of 20
states and the District of Columbia in defense of the ACA including the
law’s protections for people with preexisting conditions, public health
investments, and Medicaid expansion, among others. In the midst of rising
COVID-19 cases and deaths nationwide, the Trump Administration and the
Texas-led state coalition are risking the health care of millions of
Americans and financial support for states like Nevada.
“As the
Coronavirus death toll rises, we should be laser focused on protecting health
care, not going back to the days of caps on care and excluding people with
pre-existing conditions,” said AG Ford.
“Now, more than ever, hundreds of thousands of Nevada families are depending on
the Affordable Care Act for access to quality and affordable health care. Over
a million Nevadans with a pre-existing condition are now at risk. Hundreds of
thousands of Nevadans who receive health care through expanded Medicaid coverage
are now at risk. My office will continue to defend Nevadans’ right to health
care. Our lives depend on it.”
Every American could be affected if the ACA is destroyed. In particular,
the following is at stake:
- Health
care for the 20 million Americans who are able to afford insurance either
through Medicaid expansion or thanks to tax credits and
employer-sponsored plans through health care exchanges, and the Silver
State Health Insurance Exchange;
- Guaranteed
coverage for 1,258,000 Nevadans who
have a pre-existing condition, including 163,100 Nevada children and
620,000 Nevada women, and the law’s protection against discrimination and
higher costs based on health status;
- Health
care for hundreds of thousands of Nevadans covered through Medicaid, including
211,700 Nevadans enrolled through Medicaid expansion and 636,208 Nevadan seniors, people with disabilities, and children
enrolled in traditional Medicaid coverage;
- Coverage
for rural Nevadans, such as the 21 percent of Nevadans who receive health
care through Medicaid;
- Health
care for young adults under the age of 26 covered by a parent’s plan,
including 19,000 Nevadans;
- Families
of children with chronic health conditions who are currently protected
from lifetime insurance limits;
- An
estimated reduction of $1.2 billion in federal spending for Nevadans’ Medicaid/CHIP care and Marketplace
subsidies in the first year;
- Rising
costs of uncompensated care -- between 2013 and 2015, Nevada hospitals’
uncompensated care costs decreased by $138 million, or roughly 49%; and
- Funding
for our public health system, including investments in local and state
public health systems that help during the pandemic, FDA biosimilars which
power drug costs, and more including Medicare payment reforms, Indian
Health Services, and work to fight the opioid epidemic.
Background: In 2018, a Texas-led coalition,
supported by the Trump Administration filed Texas v. U.S., arguing
that Congress rendered the ACA’s individual mandate unconstitutional when it
reduced the penalty to $0 and that the rest of the ACA should be held invalid
as a result of that change. A separate coalition defended the ACA in its entirety. The Fifth
Circuit held that the individual mandate is unconstitutional, but declined
to further rule on the validity of the ACA’s remaining
provisions. The court instead sent the case back to the Northern District
of Texas to determine which provisions of the 900-page law are still
valid. In January, Attorney General Ford joined the
coalition in filing a petition to the
U.S. Supreme Court seeking review of the Fifth Circuit’s decision. The Supreme Court
granted review of California v. Texas in March.
In addition to
Nevada, the coalition includes the attorneys general of California,
Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts,
Michigan, Minnesota (by and through its Department of Commerce), New Jersey,
New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington,
and the District of Columbia, as well as the Governor of Kentucky.
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