eAlert Wed, 08/29/2018 - 12:00

Opponents of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) continue to target its rules that prevent insurance companies from denying coverage to people with preexisting conditions, or refusing to cover services people need to treat such conditions. A lawsuit filed in Texas federal court in February by 20 states seeks to invalidate these and other ACA protections, arguing that Congress’s repeal of the individual mandate penalty has rendered the mandate unconstitutional and, therefore, the rest of the law must be struck down, too. The U.S. Department of Justice has agreed with the plaintiff states, but has urged the court to strike down the law’s preexisting condition protections, and keep the rest of the law.

In a new post on To the Point, researchers from Georgetown University note that this would not inhibit states’ ability to enact and enforce their own laws to protect residents. However, in a comprehensive review of insurance statutes in 50 states and the District of Columbia, they find most states have not fully incorporated the ACA’s consumer protections into state law.

“[T]he effect on consumers will depend largely on how states respond,” the authors write. “More states may want to take steps to solidify these protections and shield their residents from ongoing efforts to strip them away.”

Corlette_preexisting_1x1 Read the post Impact of Removing ACA's Preexisting Condition Protections Will Depend on the State You Live In