Trump administration asks Supreme Court to overturn ‘Obamacare’
Associated PressWASHINGTON – The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to strike down the Affordable Care Act, escalating a long-running battle over former President Barack Obama’s signature health care law that could cause millions of Americans to lose their health insurance. “If President Trump gets his way, tens of millions of people will lose their health care in the middle of a global pandemic, families’ health care costs will skyrocket just as unemployment is doing the same, and communities of color will suffer even more as the health disparities already exacerbated by COVID-19 become even worse.” An analysis published Wednesday by the left-wing Center for American Progress estimated that 23.3 million people would lose insurance coverage if the lawsuit succeeds, including 99,000 Idahoans and 654,000 Washingtonians. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Spokane, said at the time the appeals court had made the right decision and warned of some Democrats’ plans to take government control of health care even further. “Attempting to take away health care options during a pandemic that has left millions of Americans out of work and in need of an alternative to employer-based health insurance is dangerous and unconscionable.” Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson joined other Democratic state attorneys general to sue to defend the law, and in January 2019 House Democrats introduced a resolution to join in the legal effort, forcing Republicans to go on the record with their stance.