Bucks Montgomery Physician Winter 2021 - 7

The insurance industry and the public benefit from
the ACA. The " individual mandate " appeared to be
in response to concerns by insurers that the youngest
and lowest risk patients would not purchase insurance
through the ACA therefore increasing insurers' own
risks. But many of the public dislike the " mandate, "
which was already struck down by SCOTUS. Another
concern with the ACA is the cost of enrollment,
still a barrier to many of the working poor.

SCOTUS until June 2021, which is when the decisions of
all cases heard in this session will be decided and made
public. Both Chief Justice Roberts and Associate Justice
Kavanaugh stated that they felt that there was severability.

According to the Women's Law Project of PA (WLP),
" Today we witnessed weak arguments asserted in a partisan
effort to overturn the Affordable Care Act, the first federal
law to broadly prohibit sex discrimination in health care, "
says WLP Director of Policy & Advocacy Amal Bass. " It
is appalling to witness this effort to sabotage the health of
the American people amid a pandemic and recession that is
already disproportionately harming women, and especially
Black and brown women. The very same people keeping
our country going as essential frontline workers are most
likely to lose access to healthcare if this effort is successful.
" If the ACA is overturned, coverage of mental health
care, treatment for substance use disorders, maternity care,
and emergency services-and the rest of the Essential
Health Benefits-can be eliminated with no correlating
reduction in cost. Insurance companies in some states
without strong gender-equality protections would once
again be allowed to charge women more money for
health insurance based solely on their sex (a practice
known as " gender rating " ). Insurers could deny people
with pre-existing conditions coverage, and consider
pregnancy and domestic violence pre-existing conditions.

The Attorney General of PA has joined arguments to
preserve the ACA. According to the WLP, " The uninsured
rate in Pennsylvania is currently 7%. Research estimates
that if the ACA is overturned, the number of uninsured
Pennsylvanians will increase among the non-elderly by
143%, with the biggest leap (among the non-elderly)
affecting people aged 19 to 26 years old. " These are women
who need contraceptive and maternity benefits most.
I implore all of us who have concerns with the
fallout of overturning the ACA make our opinions
known to our elected representatives. I believe the
ACA needs revision and repair. I have not seen any
proposal for replacement. As a medical professional
and an advocate for my colleagues and for womens'
equality and health care rights, I urge everyone to
strongly consider becoming educated on this issue.
Thank you.

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" Eliminating the ACA would also end Medicaid
expansion, which research shows could deprive millions
of people of their health insurance, reduce access to care,
increase premature deaths, increase maternal mortality,
increase infant mortality, and increase medical debt. "

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Plaintiffs in Texas v California essentially argue that even
though the " individual mandate " has been overturned,
there is somehow an imperative felt to compel enrollment,
and that the entire ACA should be struck down as a result.
Unfortunately, the argument is completely along party lines,
with Republican Attorney Generals arguing as plaintiffs,
and Democratic Party AGs arguing for the defense.
The legal consensus so far, both partisan and nonpartisan, is that the case may have no " standing, " and
that the ACA provisions should be " severable " from the
" individual mandate. " We will not have the full ruling from

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Bucks Montgomery Physician Winter 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Bucks Montgomery Physician Winter 2021