Attorney General Andy Beshear announced Monday he will oppose a federal judge’s ruling on Friday eliminating the Affordable Care Act that threatens to terminate health care coverage for over 1.3 million Kentuckians.
According to a release, Beshear and a group of attorneys general have been battling the federal case in Texas over the last year to protect health care nationwide. U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor ruled December 14 that the ACA is unconstitutional because recent federal action eliminated the measure’s penalty for failing to purchase health insurance — known as the individual mandate.
Beshear said in the release this ruling would immediately eliminate coverage for 500,000 Kentuckians on Expanded Medicaid, and on the private insurance side would return Kentucky to a time when insurance companies would simply refuse coverage for Kentuckians based on pre-existing conditions, age, and even gender. With Kentuckians facing so many needs, Beshear said they cannot allow a Texas court to strip coverage away from Kentucky families.
Beshear identified ten key harms to Kentuckians if the ruling is not overturned, which includes no mandatory coverage for pre-existing conditions, elimination of Expanded Medicaid, children under the age of 26 would not be able to remain on their parents’ insurance plans, seniors would have to pay more for prescription drugs, children would lose access to no-cost immunizations and well-child visits, and older Kentuckians would be charged vastly more than younger ones.
Beshear is joined by attorneys general in fourteen states, including California, Illinois, North Carolina, Virginia, as well as the District of Columbia.
In the coming days, Beshear says the group of attorneys general will take the necessary legal actions to appeal the Texas ruling. Beshear said the ultimate goal is for the U.S. Supreme Court to rule on the matter.
Attorneys general in eighteen states including Indiana, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, and South Carolina and governors from Maine and Mississippi are seeking to dismantle the Affordable Care Act.