Author: Sheryl Gay Stolberg, Robert Pear and Abby Goodnough / Source: New York Times
Representative Nancy Pelosi, the top House Democrat, and others in her party vowed to move swiftly to defend the health care law. Sarah Silbiger/The New York Times
WASHINGTON — The decision by a federal judge in Texas to strike down all of the Affordable Care Act has thrust the volatile debate over health care onto center stage in a newly divided capital, imperiling the insurance coverage of millions of Americans while delivering a possible policy opening to Democrats.
After campaigning vigorously on a pledge to protect patients with pre-existing medical conditions — a promise that helped return them to the House majority they had lost in 2010 — Democrats vowed to move swiftly to defend the law and to safeguard its protections.
On the defensive, Republicans campaigning this fall promised that they too backed the health law’s protections for people with pre-existing medical conditions. But the Texas ruling illustrated the fruits — and possible perils — of their long-running campaign, stepped up in the Trump era, to remake the judiciary through the confirmation of dozens of conservative judges, including two appointees to the Supreme Court.
The ruling, if it stands, would not only do away with coverage protections for people with pre-existing health conditions but also strike down the guarantee of coverage for what the law deems “essential health benefits.” These include emergency services, maternity and newborn care, mental health and substance abuse treatment, prescription drugs and pediatric care.
But it is so sweeping that many legal analysts believe it is likely to be overturned. The Supreme Court, in a 5-to-4 decision, has already upheld the Affordable Care Act’s legality.
The political reaction to the Texas decision, though, is not likely to diminish anytime soon.“This is a five-alarm fire,” said Senator Christopher S. Murphy, Democrat of Connecticut. “Republicans just blew up our health care system.”
Republicans were by and large muted in their response, but Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, the incoming House minority leader, appealed to Democrats to come to negotiate a successor to what he called “an unconstitutional law.”
“President Trump has made clear he wants a solution, and I am committed to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to make sure America’s health care system works for all Americans,” he said in a statement Saturday.
President Trump this month. He sent a celebratory Twitter post after the ruling, calling it “great news for America!” but the administration sought to allay concerns about the decision.
The Democrats’ first step will be in the courts; aides to Representative Nancy Pelosi, the top House Democrat, said Saturday that House Democrats would move quickly to notify the Trump administration that they intended to intervene in the case. A vote on a resolution to do so is expected in the earliest days of the new Congress.
Democrats also intend to convene hearings to spotlight the sweeping impact of the Texas ruling — and lay the groundwork for their case to reclaim the White House in 2020. If upheld on appeal, the decision could deprive an estimated 17 million Americans of their health insurance — including millions who gained coverage through the law’s expansion of Medicaid. Still others could see premiums skyrocket as price protections for pre-existing conditions lapse.
The immediate practical effect of the ruling was not clear. While the judge declared that the whole law was invalid, as Texas and 19 other states had asserted, he did not issue an injunction to stop federal officials from enforcing it, and the effects of the judgment could be delayed pending appeals.
But the timing of the decision seemed designed to maximize political reverberations. It came a day before open enrollment was to end for coverage under the health law for the coming year. Sign-ups were already expected to dip after successive blows to the law by Congress and the Trump administration. But the passage of statewide referendums last month and the election of Democratic governors could also mean coverage expansions in the coming year under the health law’s Medicaid expansion.
In an email to millions of Americans on Saturday, the Trump administration tried to allay concerns caused by the court decision in the Texas case.
The case is “still moving through the courts,” said the message from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. “The marketplaces are still open for business, and we will continue with open enrollment. There will be no impact to enrollees’ current coverage or their coverage in a 2019 plan.”
But Mr. Trump was in a celebratory mood. “It was a big, big victory by a highly respected judge, highly, highly respected in Texas, and on the assumption that the Supreme Court upholds, we will…
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