Trump’s new legal report offers new ammunition to Democrats and his presumptive presidential nominee Joe Biden, who believe his advantage in health care will help the party retake the White House and possibly the Senate this fall. On Wednesday, Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi announced plans to vote on legislation that is based on the Affordable Care Act, timing the bill to contrast with Trump’s legal attack on the law during the coronavirus emergency.
The Trump-backed lawsuit, brought by a group of Republican-led states, jeopardizes health insurance for more than 20 million people covered by Obamacare, as well as insurance protections for people with pre-existing medical conditions. Biden during a campaign event on Thursday attacked Trump for trying to override those protections when an increasing number of coronavirus survivors are developing potentially long-term health complications.
“They would live their lives caught in a vise among Donald Trump’s twin legacies: his inability to protect the American people from the coronavirus and his ruthless crusade to remove health protections from American families,” Biden said.
Two years ago, House Democrats, who lead Obamacare’s legal defense along with state Democratic attorneys general, recovered the house by passing a health care law that has become more popular since Republicans failed in the first government year. Powerful healthcare industry The groups have also rallied to defend the law, which has greatly increased their profits as they also try to fend off the left’s push for “Medicare for All” and other broader expansions of government-backed coverage.
Trump has insisted that his predecessor’s signature legislative achievement must be reversed, despite the public health emergency. Shortly after Covid-19’s appearance, Trump refused to reopen the law’s health insurance markets to facilitate coverage for the uninsured, despite appeals from Democrats and some moderate Republicans.
“What we want to do is end it and provide medical care,” Trump said in the Oval Office last month when he announced that his administration would continue to fight Obamacare in court. “We will have excellent medical care, including pre-existing conditions.”
However, Republicans have not agreed to a replacement as the revocation effort fell short, and previous Republican Party plans would have weakened Obamacare’s strong protections that prevent insurers from overcharging or denying coverage based on medical history. from a patient. Administration health officials have said they will not come up with an alternative plan unless the Supreme Court eliminates Obamacare.
The Supreme Court, which upheld the health care law in the two previous major challenges, will hear the lawsuit this fall, but is unlikely to issue a decision before the November 3 election. Some Republicans fear that the lawsuit may cost them on the ballot, since the party did not agree to a replacement for Obamacare.
Democrats in the House of Representatives think the issue will go a long way in helping them expand their majority. Representative Cheri Bustos (Democrat from Illinois), who chairs the Democratic Congress Campaign Committee, said health care is surpassing polls about voter concerns in the 42 shifting districts the party is trying to maintain, as well as 45 districts it is trying to change.
“We can tell him that healthcare is the number one problem in changing districts across the country, and that makes us feel pretty good from a political perspective, not only that it is the number one problem but that Republicans are on the losing end. , “he told POLITICO.
The administration’s legal strategy has divided top advisers, and some see the lawsuit as Trump’s last chance to deliver on his promise to uproot Obamacare. But two prominent cabinet members, Attorney General Bill Barr and Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar, opposed the administration’s decision to fully support the lawsuit. Last month, Barr tried unsuccessfully to convince the White House to soften its legal attack on Obamacare due to the pandemic.
The red states lawsuit was filed more than two years ago and was initially considered a remote possibility. But it gained momentum after a conservative federal judge in Texas ruled in favor of the states. Originally, the Trump administration had asked the courts to attack only the insurance protections of the law before expanding its legal attack last year following the decision of the Texas judge.
