The Trump administration is refusing to defend key parts of the Affordable Care Act, essentially arguing that federal courts should find the health law’s protection for people with preexisting conditions unconstitutional.
The federal lawsuit hinges on the ACA’s individual mandate, or the requirement to get health coverage or pay a penalty. The mandate has long been a sticking point for conservatives, who argue that the government should not be telling individuals what coverage they must have.
But that mandate was crucial to persuading insurers to offer plans under the ACA. It helped expand their risk pools while the law forced them to guarantee coverage to any customer. Insurers were not allowed to raise costs for people with preexisting conditions. The administration’s brief, filed Thursday in federal district court in Fort Worth, Texas, takes aim at those links.
[For more on this story by Julie Rovner and Julie Appleby, go to https://khn.org/news/administr...protection-in-court/]
Comments (0)