TOPLINE
Around 23 million Americans face losing healthcare coverage after the Trump Administration called for the Supreme Court to scrap the Obama-era Affordable Care Act setting the stage for health to become the key issue in November’s election
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden during a meeting with families who have benefited from ... [+]
KEY FACTS
Late Thursday, the Trump administration filed a 82-page brief with the Supreme Court to scrap the Affordable Care Act, a polarizing healthcare reform that has become known as Obamacare.
The Trump administration, Texas, and several other conservative-led states, claim Obamacare is unconstitutional after Congress in 2017 scrapped the law’s financial penalty for not having health insurance, but left in place the requirement that all Americans have access to coverage.
"Nothing the 2017 Congress did demonstrates it would have intended the rest of the ACA to continue to operate in the absence of these three integral provisions," said government advocate Noel Francisco in the filing.
Around 23 million Americans face losing coverage if the lawsuit is successful but the Supreme Court is unlikely to hear the case until the fall, The New York Times reported.
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden tweeted: “While the Trump Administration continues their efforts to rip health care away from millions, I'm speaking about how we can make quality, affordable health care available to every American.”
The move comes after new federal data shows nearly half a million Americans enrolled in Obamacare exchanges this year after losing healthcare coverage, as millions lost jobs due to the pandemic, and lockdown measures.
chief critic
“In the dead of night, the Trump Administration has once again asked the Supreme Court to rip away the protections and benefits of the Affordable Care Act in the middle of the coronavirus crisis,’ said House speaker Nancy Pelosi in a tweet.
Key background
The Affordable Care Act blocked health insurers from denying healthcare to Americans with pre-existing health conditions, and extended the healthcare safety net to tens of millions of people, but the 2010 law has proved deeply polarizing. Trump has repeatedly railed against the program, while Republicans have failed in previous attempts to scrap it, and have yet to outline the plan they propose to replace it with. Healthcare was always going to be one of the top issues for the November showdown between President Trump and Joe Biden - the White House’s much anticipated move to strike down Obamacare raises the stakes dramatically.
