The future health care of millions of Americans remains in limbo ... In December, a federal appeals court agreed with a lower court's decision that the Affordable Care Act's (ACA) requirement for most people to have health insurance is unconstitutional. The case now goes back to a Texas federal judge (who previously struck down the entire law) to determine how much of the health care law can survive.
If the district court's ruling stands, it could throw the ACA into chaos — and affect millions of Americans whose health care and coverage have been impacted by the law. Here's what that means for Medicare beneficiaries and those relying on Medicaid:
• Prescription drug costs for older Americans will skyrocket.
• Medicare recipients will be forced to pay increased costs for preventive services like wellness visits, diabetes screenings, mammograms, flu shots and even cancer screenings.
• The Medicare Part A Hospital Insurance Trust Fund's shortfall will be accelerated thanks to the loss of provider payment reforms in the ACA.
• Americans who gained access to Medicaid, because the ACA expanded this program's eligibility, would lose coverage.
On top of all that, millions of older Americans could see their health care premiums and deductibles spiral upwards, reversing a positive trend under the ACA of containing Medicare costs. And millions of Americans with pre-existing conditions could lose their health care coverage altogether!
The Trump Administration has repeatedly tried to overturn the ACA and sabotage this popular law — and this latest ruling could give these efforts a tremendous boost in 2020. And so, our fight to protect this historic law just got a lot more difficult. Ultimately, this case is expected to be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court, which has upheld the health care law twice in the past.
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