SB 284 smokescreen for lawsuit to repeal Affordable Care Act

So much for the holiday season.
Last week, Senate President Mitch Carmichael wasted no time introducing us to the mean season.
At the behest of Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, Carmichael proposed SB 284, the West Virginia Healthcare Continuity Act.
This bill purportedly aims to ensure people are not denied health care coverage on the basis of pre-existing conditions. But all the while, it’s predicated on the very possible elimination of the entire Affordable Care Act by the U.S. Supreme Court this year.
Almost two years ago, our state’s attorney general joined 19 other states in a lawsuit arguing that the ACA is unconstitutional. Their argument is specious, coming on the heels of repeated, unsuccessful attempts to repeal the ACA through congressional action.
Their central argument is since passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in November 2017 eliminated the individual mandate component of the ACA, it rendered the rest of it invalid.
Whether SB 284 passes or not if the nation’s high rules to repeal the ACA, tens of thousands of people in West Virginia and millions nationwide will lose health coverage.
According to a 2018 WVU report, around 719,000 non-elderly West Virginians have a pre-existing condition, ranging from high blood pressure and AIDS to osteoarrthritis and Alzheimer’s.
Supposedly, SB 284 would prohibit health insurance companies from excluding people because of a pre-existing condition if the ACA is no longer in effect.
Issues such as spiking premiums and insurers quitting the market loom large, as well as funding the so-call “patient protection pool” in the bill.
Yet, we are appalled Morrisey provides our state’s support for this lawsuit to repeal the ACA.
How can he and others now claim support for protection for pre-existing conditions while waging war in court to eliminate them for two years?
And if the ACA is overturned, SB 284 will not help the millions of other people who will lose their insurance.
That extends to the millions of Americans who have coverage outside the ACA’s flagship programs, including:
Young adults who have dependent coverage as a result of the ACA requiring employers to provide coverage up to age 26.
More than 150,000 lower-income people in West Virginia who would lose coverage through Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
And thousands of others in our state who buy their insurance directly from insurers through the so-called individual market.
This does not even take into account crucial preventive services required by the ACA, including contraception, cancer screenings and well-child visits at little to no cost.
Attacks on health coverage are never in season, but lawmakers seeking political cover to repeal the ACA should be on the ballot.