On February 21,  the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to decide whether or not to hear arguments in the Health Care Repeal Lawsuit (Texas v. California). The lawsuit was first filed in 2018 by 18 Republican state attorneys general and two Republican governors seeking to dismantle the ACA.

Last year a district court judge did just that, issuing a ruling striking down the entire law and all of the consumer protections it provides. An appeals court upheld that decision in part last December, despite widespread criticism from legal scholars on both sides of the aisle, bringing the country one step closer to a total health care system collapse. 

In response, a coalition of 20 Democratic state policymakers and the House of Representatives, filed a petition with the Supreme Court asking the justices to review the case before the end of their term in June. They argued that the lingering questions about the future of the law destabilize consumer coverage and constrict health care markets, driving up costs and stifling innovation.  

So far, none of the Republican efforts to eliminate the ACA have been successful. However, this time could be different. The Trump administration and its supporters are using this lawsuit to accomplish through the courts what they could not through Congress. The stakes are too high for Americans to allow partisan, political jockeying to get between us and our health care.

If the Supreme Court denies review and sends the case back to the district court, the case heads back to the district court for further review. However, the Trump administration has offered no concrete plans to protect consumers from coverage losses and insurer discrimination or to fill in the expansive state budget gaps that will be created if the ACA goes away. 

On the other hand, if the Supreme Court takes the case but won’t hear it until October, this will leave many Americans  in limbo about the future of their health care coverage. Even as the Trump administration and its allies in state government move forward with this lawsuit and continue to chip away at regulatory protections for people with serious health concerns, they have offered no alternative options.

Now, more than ever, we need champions in state government to stand up for health care access by pushing back on these efforts to sabotage the ACA and holding the administration accountable for putting the consumers it protects in jeopardy.

Sign your name to protect the ACA or share your story about why the ACA matters to you here: https://www.protectourcare.org