As Loeffler Rushes to Force Through Trump’s Nominee, Will She Finally Admit to Backing GOP’s Anti-Health Care Lawsuit?

Loeffler has pledged to stand with Republican leadership “100%” — including forcing through a Supreme Court nominee close to an election that creates a “nightmare scenario” for the health care law and its critical protections

ATLANTA — With unelected “political mega-donor” Senator Kelly Loeffler calling for the Senate to rush through a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court that would put the health care law “in much greater jeopardy,” it’s time for Loeffler to clearly state her position on Republicans’ reckless lawsuit to completely overturn the health care law and end its critical protections for 1.8 million Georgians with pre-existing conditions.

Loeffler has already pledged to back President Donald Trump and Republican leadership “100%,” and their latest efforts to force through a new Supreme Court justice less than two months before an election create a “nightmare scenario” for the health care law in the middle of a global pandemic.

But while Loeffler and her opponent Congressman Doug Collins (who views the lawsuit as a way to “overcome” the health care law) are rushing to confirm a justice so close to an election, Loeffler still won’t say if she supports the GOP-backed lawsuit which could leave the health care law “doomed” as millions of Americans face losing their jobs and their health coverage. 

“By trying to push through a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court less than two months out from Election Day, Senator Kelly Loeffler is putting health care protections for millions of Americans on the line,” said Alex Floyd, spokesman for the Democratic Party of Georgia. “After trying to dodge the issue for months, it’s time for Loeffler to clearly admit to her support for the GOP’s reckless anti-health care lawsuit which could leave the health care law ‘doomed’ if she and Mitch McConnell get their way.”

Read more about the latest threat to Georgians’ health care:

Washington Post: How Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death could jeopardize the Affordable Care Act

• The death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg injects fresh uncertainty into the future of the Affordable Care Act, as the Supreme Court prepares to consider anew the constitutionality of the law that has reshaped the United States’ health-care system in the past decade.

• “Ginsburg’s death is the nightmare scenario for the Affordable Care Act,” said Nicholas Bagley, a University of Michigan law professor who supports the law. “If the suit had a trivial chance of success yesterday, it has a new lease on life.”

• The ACA has been in peril in the courts and from President Trump and congressional Republicans since it was adopted by a Democratic president in 2010, becoming Barack Obama’s main domestic policy achievement.

• The newest legal challenge comes as polls were showing health care was a dominant issue in the November elections, even before the coronavirus pandemic removed millions of Americans’ jobs and health insurance and elevated people’s worries about whether they would have coverage if they got sick.

• The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments Nov. 10, a week after Election Day, in an ACA case with sharp partisan contours.

• “In important respects, the ACA has become part of the basic plumbing of the U.S. health-care system,” Bagley said. “Ripping it out at this point would create enormous problems.”

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