House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is criticizing President Donald Trump’s administration for its late-night call for the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down the Affordable Care Act (ACA) widely referred to as Obamacare.
The top Democratic lawmaker released a statement on Thursday evening deeply scrutinizing the president’s call to end Obamacare, an act that also serves as one of former President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden’s signature achievements.
“President Trump and the Republicans’ campaign to rip away the protections and benefits of the Affordable Care Act in the middle of the coronavirus crisis is an act of unfathomable cruelty,” she wrote.
Pelosi went on to highlight the number of Americans that would be negatively impacted by Trump’s decision.
In the dead of night, the Trump Administration has once again asked the Supreme Court to rip away the protections and benefits of the Affordable Care Act in the middle of the coronavirus crisis. #ProtectOurCare https://t.co/IB0oglIMDV
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) June 26, 2020
According to Pelosi, more than a third of Americans — approximately 130 million with pre-existing conditions — would lose access to affordable health care. An additional 23 million would also be in jeopardy of losing healthcare, in its entirety.
“If President Trump gets his way, 130 million Americans with pre-existing conditions will lose the ACA’s lifesaving protections and 23 million Americans will lose their health coverage entirely,” she said.
Pelosi continued,” There is no legal justification and no moral excuse for the Trump Administration’s disastrous efforts to take away Americans’ health care.”
Despite the efforts to axe Obamacare, Pelosi has vowed to “build on the Affordable Care Act to lower health costs and prescription drug prices For The People.”
Pelosi’s official statement came hours after the Trump administration made headlines for its legal efforts to strike down Obamacare.
Governmental advocate Noel Francisco, who heads the Justice Department’s Office of the Solicitor General, argues that the bill was rendered invalid after the previous Republican-majority Congress cut certain parts of it, as previously reported on IJR.
“Nothing the 2017 Congress did demonstrates it would have intended the rest of the ACA to continue to operate in the absence of these three integral provisions,” Francisco said.
“The entire ACA thus must fall with the individual mandate, though the scope of relief entered in this case should be limited to provisions shown to injure the plaintiffs,” the Department of Justice also wrote.
Pelosi also confirmed: “Next week, the House will continue that effort by passing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Enhancement Act.”
