The War on Healthcare Continues

Once again, healthcare is on the chopping block. In 2018, American voters sent a loud message that healthcare was by far the number one issue for them and that they oppose any cuts to critical healthcare funding. The Trump Administration chose to respond with a slap in the face: It announced its support for legal action to declare the entire Affordable Care Act unconstitutional.

At the end of 2018, a federal judge struck down the entire law. After several Democratic Attorneys General and others appealed, oral arguments were held in front of an appellate court in July 2019. The appellate court returned the case back to trial court to examine whether the individual mandate could be separated from the overall ACA law as a whole. In March 2020, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case,  and in November 2020 the hearing went ahead. We are awaiting the outcome.

The Department of Justice typically defends existing laws; the Trump Administration’s decision not to in this case is a reminder to everyone that the Administration will not stop trying to get rid of the Affordable Care Act, and defunding Medicaid and Medicare.

This legal action, however, is just one attack. The Trump Administration has been attacking healthcare steadily, on every front, since it took office:

• It went after healthcare enrollment, cutting the enrollment period from three months to just six weeks, slashing the advertising budget by 90 percent,  and funding for navigators who help people enroll from nearly $63 million to $10 million
• It ended critical funding to insurers who offer healthcare to lower income Americans, making premiums rise
• It expanded junk plans which are cheaper than traditional healthcare plans but offer very limited coverage
• It sent its 2020 budget to Congress that proposes over $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid and over $850 billion in cuts to Medicare

While the Trump administration is making war on healthcare on all fronts, others in Congress have introduced a new proposal to protect and improve healthcare. Called the Protecting Pre-existing Conditions & Making Health Care More Affordable Act of 2019, here’s what it offers:

• Lowers premiums and allows more middle-income people to qualify for subsidies
• Stronger protections for people with pre-existing conditions
• Stopping insurance companies from selling junk plans
• Strengthening enrollment for healthcare

Take action now to keep up this fight because healthcare is on the line.

• Share this page
• Call your legislators and tell them you support the Protecting Pre-existing Conditions & Making Health Care More Affordable Act of 2019
• Spread the word on social media
• Sign up at info@hepnewyork.org or on our website www.HealthcareEducationProject.org to join up with the Healthcare Education Project and its allies, who are on the frontlines of this fight.