Rep. Huffman Votes to Condemn Trump Administration’s Support for Lawsuit Attacking Americans’ Health Care

April 04, 2019

Washington, D.C.-– Today, Rep. Huffman (D-San Rafael) voted to pass H.Res. 271, a resolution condemning the Trump Administration’s participation in the Texas v. U.S. health care lawsuit seeking to strike down protections for people with pre-existing conditions and the entirety of the Affordable Care Act. The resolution, which calls on the Department of Justice to reverse its position in the case was adopted by a bipartisan vote of 240-186.

“Instead of Trump’s dangerous partisan attempt to strip protections away from people with pre-existing conditions and to undermine the Affordable Care Act, we should be working together to help more Americans access high quality, affordable health care,” said Rep. Huffman. “My constituents on the North Coast and Americans across the country deserve a government that’s working to lower health care costs, not trying to not trying to take their care away. I’ll keep working in Congress to move beyond this toxic rhetoric and advance smart solutions to improve our nation’s health care system.”

The resolution adopted today states that “the actions taken by the Trump Administration seeking the invalidation of the ACA’s protections for people with pre-existing conditions, and later the invalidation of the entire ACA, are an unacceptable assault on the health care of the American people,” and that the Justice Department should “cease any and all efforts to destroy Americans’ access to affordable health care and reverse its position in Texas v. United States.”

In January, House Democrats voted to authorize the counsel of the House of Representatives to throw its full legal weight against the suit. On March 25, the Trump Administration expanded the scope of its attack on the health law, asking the court in Texas v. U.S. not only to strike down protections for people with pre-existing conditions, but to eliminate every provision of the ACA. 

Since its full implementation in 2014, the ACA has provided critical protections for the 130 million people in the U.S. with pre-existing conditions, including the 16,679,100 in California with pre-existing conditions. If the courts agree with the Trump Administration’s position, the following provisions would be struck down:

  • Protections for people with pre-existing conditions;
  • The ban on lifetime and annual limits on health coverage;
  • The Medicaid expansion covering 15 million Americans;
  • Health insurance affordability tax credits assisting 9 million Americans;
  • Bans on discriminatory insurance practices that force women to pay more for coverage;
  • Young adults’ ability to remain on their parents’ insurance until age 26, and more.

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