Congresswoman Angie Craig Coauthors Amendment to Cut Off Justice Department Funds for Anti-ACA Lawsuit

Today, U.S. Rep. Angie Craig co-authored an amendment to a House appropriations minibus package to prevent the Justice Department from spending any federal funds for the Trump Administration's lawsuit to strike down the Affordable Care Act. The amendment passed the House Thursday evening.

"Our work to lower health care costs for working families could not be more urgent. We cannot fund the Department of Justice's efforts to tear down the critical protections of the Affordable Care Act," said Rep. Craig. "Fifty-one percent of the non-elderly folks in my district have a pre-existing condition and rely on the ACA's critical protections. If the ACA were repealed, 35,000 of my constituents would lose coverage. To these Minnesotans, the results would be life-threatening and potentially financially devastating. We cannot allow that to happen. We need to build on the ACA, not tear it down."

If the Administration's lawsuit succeeds, it would eliminate:

• Health care coverage for 23 million Americans – about 3 million more than was forecast before the coronavirus pandemic;
• Lifesaving protections for an estimated 130 million Americans with pre-existing conditions, a number that could also swell as coronavirus infections leave more Americans bearing a pre-existing condition for the rest of their lives;
• The ban on lifetime and annual limits on health coverage;
• The Medicaid expansion covering 15 million Americans;
• Health insurance affordability tax credits that make health care affordable for 9 million Americans;
• The significant savings on their prescription drugs that many seniors are receiving due to the ACA's closing of the ‘donut hole' in Medicare drug coverage;
• Bans on discriminatory insurance practices that force women to pay more for coverage;
• Young adults' ability to remain on their parents' insurance until age 26, and more.

The amendment was accepted into the appropriations minibus legislation funding the Department of Justice, which is expected to pass the House tomorrow.