Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley doubled down on his lawsuit to remove health-care protections for nearly 2.5 million Missourians, while failing to provide any alternatives beyond the expectation of Congress passing an additional bill to do what the ACA already accomplishes.
Asked during a press call on Monday, October 1 whether he has regrets about supporting the lawsuit brought by 20 GOP-led states that would overturn ObamaCare, including its pre-existing condition protections, Hawley said, “No,” according to The Hill.
“Listen, Republicans have pledged for years to repeal and replace ObamaCare,” The Hill reported Hawley saying. He added that he also wants a replacement that would include requiring insurers to cover people with pre-existing conditions, The Hill reported.
However, his op-ed on the subject in the Springfield News-Leader last month does not propose keeping other ObamaCare protections. For example, Hawley calls for eliminating the federal essential health benefits, which require insurers to cover a range of health services and help prevent insurers from simply excluding coverage for a pre-existing condition from someone’s insurance plan.
“Hawley continues to dodge all questions about why he wants to remove protections from 2.5 million Missourians with pre-existing conditions,” said Tom Bastian, spokesperson for Protect Our Care Missouri. “It is the height of dishonest for the Attorney General to claim he supports protections for pre-existing conditions while doubling down on his lawsuit to dismantle them.”
Oral arguments were held on September 5, in Texas v. Azar, et al., a lawsuit that Hawley is using taxpayer money to pursue that would strip all consumer protections provided by the Affordable Care Act. The lawsuit was prompted by last year’s tax bill, which included a provision to remove the health insurance mandate.
In addition to preventing insurance companies from discriminating against people who suffer from a pre-existing condition, the Affordable Care Act prevents insurance companies from denying coverage to someone who has received treatment for alcohol or drug abuse, or if they had a mental illness.
The following protections will be eliminated if Hawley’s lawsuit is successful:
- Protections for 2,495,400 Missourians with pre-existing conditions, if they buy coverage on their own
- Improvements to Medicare, including reduced costs for prescription drugs
- Allowing kids to stay on their parents’ insurance until age 26
- Ban on annual and lifetime limits
- Ban on insurance discrimination against women
- Limits on out-of-pocket costs
- Rules to hold insurance companies accountable
- Small business tax credits
- Marketplace tax credits and coverage for up to 213,186 Missourians.
