Tag: Obamacare

Bottomless Pinocchio: Trump’s claim that he will ‘always’ protect those with preexisting conditions

Washington Post logoNow that the very expensive, unpopular and unfair Individual Mandate provision has been terminated by us, many States & the U.S. are asking the Supreme Court that Obamacare itself be terminated so that it can be replaced with a FAR BETTER AND MUCH LESS EXPENSIVE ALTERNATIVE….. Obamacare is a joke! Deductible is far too high and the overall cost is ridiculous. My Administration has gone out of its way to manage OC much better than previous, but it is still no good. I will ALWAYS PROTECT PEOPLE WITH PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS,ALWAYS!!!”

— President Trump, in a pair of tweets, June 27, 2020

Just as the number of weekly coronavirus cases reached a new high in the United States, the Trump administration filed a legal brief asking the Supreme Court to strike down the entire Affordable Care Act.

About 20 million people covered through the act could lose their health insurance if Trump succeeds, among many other consequences bearing directly on the U.S. response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Key provisions of the health-care law prohibit insurers from denying coverage to people who are already sick, or who have “preexisting conditions.” Continue reading.

Emergency Health Coverage for the Unemployed and Uninsured in Response to the Pandemic and Economic Crisis

Center for American Progress logoNearly 38 million Americans have filed claims for unemployment insurance, and many more live in households in which someone has lost a job. As a result, nearly 27 million people could lose their employer coverage and become uninsured. Among this group, about half could be eligible for Medicaid, and several million more would be eligible for subsidies under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). However, major gaps in coverage and affordability would remain. If the unemployment rate reaches 20 percent, Oliver Wyman estimates that the number of uninsured will increase by about 9 million people.

To respond to this crisis and help as many people as quickly as possible, this column proposes emergency health coverage for the unemployed and uninsured. This emergency health coverage would build on one of the most popular parts of the ACA—its Medicaid expansion—by automatically enrolling the unemployed into Medicaid. In doing so, it would guarantee immediate coverage for all of the unemployed.

By leveraging the existing Medicaid infrastructure and program rules, it is possible to rapidly enroll the unemployed in coverage in 2020 and 2021. Such a proposal could be paired with reforms that enhance premium and cost-sharing subsidies for higher-income enrollees in ACA coverage—and that could be implemented relatively quickly—in 2021. And after 2021, this proposal could form the building blocks for broader reforms that expand public coverage further and streamline the system. Continue reading.

The Daily 202: Trump’s legal argument for throwing out all of the ACA is a nightmare for Senate Republicans

Washington Post logoPresident Trump insists on the campaign trail that he wants to protect insurance coverage for people with preexisting conditions. His legal team just told the Supreme Court otherwise.

The 82-page brief submitted late Thursday night by Trump’s representatives states crisply that the president wants to get rid of every provision of the Affordable Care Act.

Solicitor General Noel Francisco packs in a string of rhetorical flourishes that may draw cheers at a Federalist Society legal conference but will inevitably appear as factual citations to back up attack ads that Democrats plan to run this fall against vulnerable Senate Republicans, in a redux of the messaging that proved so potent in the 2018 midterms. Continue reading.

Trump administration calls for Supreme Court to strike down ObamaCare

The Hill logoThe Trump administration on Thursday night argued in a legal brief filed to the Supreme Court that the entire Affordable Care Act (ACA) should be invalidated.

The legal filing, while expected, makes official the Trump administration’s position in the Supreme Court against the health care law months ahead of the election, at a time when Democrats are hammering President Trump over his position on health care.  

Overturning the ACA would take away health insurance coverage for about 20 million people, and the stakes are even higher given the effects of the current pandemic. Continue reading.

Trump to Supreme Court: Take Away Health Care From 337,000 Minnesotans During A Pandemic

DFL Party slams Trump legal brief urging the Supreme Court to end the A.C.A.

SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA – Late last night, President Trump’s administration filed a legal brief urging the Supreme Court to strike down the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in the midst of a pandemic.

According to newly-released numbers from the Center for American Progress (CAP), a public policy think tank, 337,000 Minnesotans would lose their health insurance if Trump succeeds in eliminating the ACA.

Nationwide, CAP projected that 23,259,000 Americans will lose their health insurance if the ACA is struck down – 3,382,000 of whom would lose health insurance specifically due to the loss of jobs and employer-sponsored insurance as a result of COVID-19 and Trump’s failure to manage the virus. CAP’s pre-pandemic numbers are in line with official estimates released by Trump’s own Department of Health and Human Services just last year. Continue reading “Trump to Supreme Court: Take Away Health Care From 337,000 Minnesotans During A Pandemic”

With a jab at Trump, Pelosi unveils new ‘Obamacare’ bill

WASHINGTON, DC — Flicking a dismissive jab at President Donald Trump, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi unveiled a plan Wednesday to expand “Obamacare,” even as Trump’s administration is about to file arguments in a Supreme Court case to strike it down.

Pelosi announced an upcoming floor vote on her measure, setting up a debate that will juxtapose the Democrats’ top policy issue, Trump’s unrelenting efforts to dismantle Obama’s legacy, and the untamed coronavirus pandemic.

On Thursday, the Trump administration is expected to file papers with the Supreme Court arguing that the Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional. Pelosi wants her bill on the House floor Monday. Continue reading.

Health Care Advocates Push Back Against Trump’s Erasure of Transgender Rights

New York Times logoA new rule narrows the legal definition of sex discrimination in the Affordable Care Act. Major health care providers actively oppose it.

Health advocates representing American hospitals, medical groups, insurers and civil rights associations condemned the Trump administration on Saturday for rolling back protections for transgender patients, and for doing so amid a global pandemic.

The new rule, long sought by conservatives and the religious right, narrows the legal definition of sex discrimination in the Affordable Care Act so that it omits protection for transgender people. It also opens the door for health care providers to refuse to treat patients who have had abortions.

The move is part of a broad set of policy changes that weaken safeguards for transgender people across multiple sectors, including education, employment and housing. The changes to the Affordable Care Act, often referred to as Obamacare, were proposed last year. Continue reading.

Study links Medicaid expansion under ObamaCare to fewer cancer deaths

The Hill logoA new study released this week showed that cancer deaths dropped more in states that expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) than in those that did not.

The study from the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) found that states that expanded Medicaid saw a 29 percent drop in cancer deaths, compared to a 25 percent drop for states that did not.

“This is the first study to show the benefit of Medicaid expansion on cancer death rates on a national scale,” said Anna Lee, who is the lead author and radiation oncology fellow at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) in New York. “We now have evidence that Medicaid expansion has saved the lives of many people with cancer across the United States.” Continue reading.

Trump’s judicial nominee clashes with Democrats over his comments critical of health care law

Washington Post logoPresident Trump’s nominee to the most influential federal appeals court clashed with Democrats over his past comments about the Affordable Care Act, while Republicans praised his recent ruling allowing limited Easter church services during the coronavirus pandemic.

Judge Justin Walker, a protege of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Supreme Court Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, faced criticism at Wednesday’s confirmation hearing over his remarks two years ago that rulings upholding the ACA were “indefensible” and about jokes he made at the law’s expense at a ceremony in March marking his entry to the federal bench.

Republicans are pushing to elevate Walker to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit — a promotion that Democrats decry as too quick for the 37-year-old after just six months as a district judge in Kentucky. Continue reading.

Trump Aims To ’Terminate’ Obamacare In Midst Of Pandemic

Donald Trump on Wednesday said he still supports a Republican-led lawsuit before the Supreme Court that seeks to invalidate the Affordable Care Act, even amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

More than 1.2 million Americans have tested positive for the virus, and nearly 72,000 have died from it, according to a tally from the Washington Post.

Meanwhile, more than 30 million people have lost their jobs, and with that, they may have lost their employer-sponsored health care. Without the ACA — better known as Obamacare — it’s unclear how those Americans would secure health insurance to pay for the cost of medical care or hospitalization if they contracted the coronavirus. Continue reading.