Duckworth, Democratic Colleagues to HHS and Treasury: Produce an Analysis of Health Coverage Losses in the U.S. if the ACA is Overturned

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) joined Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and 14 of her Democratic colleagues in calling on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury to conduct an analysis of how the Supreme Court potentially invalidating the Affordable Care Act (ACA) with an adverse ruling in California v. Texas would affect healthcare coverage in the United States, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"In the midst of a global pandemic that has killed roughly 220,000 people in the U.S. and infected over 8 million others, the President of the United States is actively asking the Supreme Court to eliminate the ACA's critical health protections," the Senators wrote. "Republicans in the U.S. Senate had the opportunity to pass legislation barring the President from advocating against the ACA in court, but they refused-choosing instead to ram through Amy Coney Barrett's nomination and place the health care law at even greater risk."

Despite the ACA's unequivocal success in reducing the number of uninsured Americans, Republican lawmakers have spent years working to overturn the law. These years of sabotage have culminated in California v. Texas, a case led by 18 attorneys general and President Trump's Department of Justice, that calls for the courts to declare the entire ACA unconstitutional. The President is currently working to fill the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's Supreme Court seat with his nominee, Judge Amy Coney Barrett, in time to hear arguments in the case in the Supreme Court on November 10, 2020. Barrett's nomination is a key component of the President's self-stated goal to "terminate healthcare under Obamacare [the ACA].".

If the ACA is repealed, experts estimate that over 20 million Americans will lose health coverage—a number that is likely higher now as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. To better understand the implications of a California v. Texas decision overturning the ACA, the senators have asked HHS and Treasury to provide information on how such a decision would impact U.S. healthcare coverage, including any pre-existing internal analyses of such a decision.

Along with Duckworth and Warren, the letter was also signed by Senators Michael Bennet (D-CO), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Cory A. Booker (D-NJ), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Tina Smith (D-MN), Mark R. Warner (D-VA) and Ron Wyden (D-OR), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Finance.

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