Susan Collins’ “sparked” the Republican lawsuit to overturn health care law and once signed on to a GOP court brief arguing that health care law should be struck down

 

“If the lawsuit succeeds she'll be responsible for loss of ACA”

 

In case you missed it, today it was reported that President Trump and Republicans in Washington are trying to push off the consequences of their lawsuit to dismantle the Affordable Care Act until after the election if their legal attack succeeds. The lawsuit threatens to dismantle the health care law in its entirety, including protections for people with pre-existing conditions and other key consumer protections. 

 

Collins voted for the Republican tax law in 2017 that “sparked” this lawsuit, and she even cast the deciding vote in committee last month to block a study of what effects this dangerous lawsuit could have on health care for Mainers. Collins also signed on to a previous court brief arguing the ACA should be invalidated if the individual mandate was repealed, once authored a bill that would allow insurers to discriminate against people with pre-existing conditions, and co-wrote Ted Cruz's bill to repeal the health care law without a replacement.

 

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Washington Post: Trump administration plans to delay any changes if the ACA loses in court

Paige Winfield Cunningham and Yasmeen Abutaleb 

October 6, 2019

 

  • “The Trump administration, with no viable plan for replacing critical health benefits for millions of Americans, plans to seek a stay if a federal appeals court invalidates all or part of the Affordable Care Act in the coming weeks — and may try to delay a potential Supreme Court hearing on the matter until after the 2020 presidential election, according to current and former administration officials.”

 

  • “[R]eplacing key benefits — such as guaranteed coverage for people with preexisting conditions — would require the cooperation of Democratic congressional leaders, who have vowed to defend the law and have no interest in a piecemeal replacement plan likely to fall far short of preserving health coverage for about 20 million Americans.”

 

  • “The administration’s plan to seek a stay of any court ruling that undermines the law reflects the political disadvantages of its decision to side with GOP-led states seeking to topple the ACA, also known as Obamacare. Even as the Justice Department urges the courts to invalidate the entire ACA, administration officials are promising voters that there will be no immediate impact on their coverage.”

 

  • “The administration also hopes to slow the case’s progress to the Supreme Court, to avoid having its efforts to invalidate the law spotlighted during President Trump’s reelection bid, two former administration officials said.”

 

 

  • “The appeals court could uphold the entire law, or strike it down. Or, the judges could take a middle path, striking only its mandate to buy health coverage, or both the law’s mandate and its requirements for insurers to cover people with preexisting conditions without charging them more.”

 

  • “Conservative allies of the administration also seem to prefer a later time frame — where the Supreme Court would hear oral arguments in fall 2020 and would not issue its decision until after the election.”

 

  • “[T]he administration does not have a plan for a bipartisan bill that would cover as many people as the ACA and could pass Congress. The administration has not communicated extensively with most Republicans on Capitol Hill, and Democrats said they are unwilling to vote on bills from Republicans to reinstate the protections for patients with preexisting conditions.”

 

  • “The administration also does not want to put out a detailed plan for Democrats to pick apart just as the campaign heats up. Efforts to repeal the law in 2017 were highly unpopular, and government estimates showed that millions would lose their health insurance under Republican proposals.”

 

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