Release date:
4/9/2018
(RALEIGH) Attorney General Josh Stein today moved to protect healthcare access for hundreds of thousands of North Carolinians by filing a motion to intervene in Texas et al. v. United States et al., a lawsuit filed in federal district court in Texas which seeks to dismantle the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The lawsuit imperils America’s healthcare system, particularly for more vulnerable groups like seniors, children, and people with chronic medical conditions or disabilities. More than 450,000 people in North Carolina receive coverage through the Health Insurance Marketplace established by the ACA. “North Carolinians depend on reliable access to affordable healthcare,” said Attorney General Stein. “Partisan political games should not interfere with people’s ability to live happy, healthy lives. I will oppose any attempt to strip healthcare coverage from hundreds of thousands hard-working people in our state.”
The Texas lawsuit petitions the federal court to stop Medicaid expansion; end tax credits that help people afford insurance; allow insurance companies to deny coverage to people with pre-existing conditions; take away seniors’ prescription drug discounts; strip funding from our nation’s public health system, including work to combat the opioid epidemic; and much more. Americans living in the states seeking to intervene could lose half a trillion dollars in healthcare funding if the lawsuit succeeds.
Texas filed the lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Fort Worth Division on February 28, 2018. Texas alleges that the ACA is no longer constitutional due to the passage of the Republican tax bill, passed in December 2017, which zeroed out the penalty payment due under the ACA’s individual mandate for those who could afford to pay for their health insurance but failed to do so. In the motion to intervene, the attorneys general allege that the ACA has not been repealed by the passage of the Republican tax bill and that its constitutionality has been upheld by the Supreme Court.
Joining Attorney General Stein in filing today’s motion are the Attorneys General of: California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Virginia, Vermont, Washington, and the District of Columbia.
Contact:
Laura Brewer (919) 716-6484
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