The Daily Beast: Georgia GOP “Plows Forward on Plans to Kill Obamacare, Pandemic Be Damned”

Kemp’s administration and his Washington Republican allies are still working to undermine critical protections for Georgians with pre-existing conditions and slash health coverage in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic

ATLANTA — Today, a new report from The Daily Beast outlines just how dedicated Georgia Republicans are to their lawsuit that would overturn the entire health care law, ending critical protections for Georgians with pre-existing conditions while stripping coverage from millions across the country.

Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr even bragged to the Daily Beast that “two different courts have now agreed with us” in his quest to end health care coverage for millions, following up on President Donald Trump’s recent pledge to “terminate” the entire health care law as our country grapples with the coronavirus pandemic.

What does this dangerous lawsuit mean for Georgians’ access to care?

• Over 1.8 million Georgians with pre-existing conditions could see massive price increases and lose access to care.
• One million Georgians would lose their health care coverage.
• Georgians 26 and younger would be kicked off their families’ coverage.
• The CDC would lose an essential public health fund.
• Essential benefits coverage ranging from maternity care to basic prescription drugs could be gone.

As politicians in-state like Carr and Governor* Brian Kemp are trying to undermine Georgians’ health care protections, their fellow Republicans in Washington are working just as hard to dismantle the health care law and its provisions for Georgia families. Senator David Perdue and Congressman Doug Collins both repeatedly voted to gut the health care law, while Perdue even bragged that he “of course” supports this devastating lawsuit.Senator Kelly Loeffler, meanwhile, has promised to stand with the White House and Senate Republicans “100%” as she desperately tries to hold off Collins in their brutal intraparty brawl.

“It’s shameful that in the middle of a public health crisis, Attorney General Chris Carr and his Republican allies are still focused on trying to take health care coverage away from Georgians rather than trying to expand access to care,” said Maggie Chambers, spokesperson for the Democratic Party of Georgia. “At a time when we should be talking about how to expand Medicaid or provide greater access to treatment for Georgians, Republicans would rather try and rip away coverage from families right when they need it most.”

Read the latest on Republicans’ reckless anti-health care lawsuit:

The Daily Beast: GOP Plows Forward on Plans to Kill Obamacare, Pandemic Be Damned

• The worsening coronavirus outbreak may be stretching the limits of the U.S. health care system and overwhelming state governments, but that isn’t deterring a group of 18 state attorneys general from plowing ahead with a lawsuit that could overturn the Affordable Care Act within a year—a move that could disrupt the health care system at a time of deep crisis.

• Representatives for five of those attorneys general—from the states of Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, Missouri, and Tennessee—confirmed to The Daily Beast that the coronavirus outbreak has not changed their plans to try and kill the health care law as parties to the case of Texas v. California.

• Their steadfastness comes even as their states are beginning to feel the acute impact of the coronavirus’ spread. Georgia currently has over 1,700 coronavirus cases, while Tennessee has nearly 1,000 and the others have anywhere from 350 to 600.

• Their determination to kill the law, no matter the circumstances, mirrors President Trump’s. Asked at a press conference last week whether the virus had changed his plans to press ahead in court, Trump affirmed that “what we want to do is terminate it.”

• Their determination to kill the law, no matter the circumstances, mirrors President Trump’s. Asked at a press conference last week whether the virus had changed his plans to press ahead in court, Trump affirmed that “what we want to do is terminate it.”

• Should the Supreme Court strike it Obamacare, Capitol Hill would have to step in with a replacement for the ACA—which in itself poses another major problem. When Republicans controlled both chambers of Congress in 2017, they were unable to pass their own Obamacare replacement. Since then, key GOP lawmakers like Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), chairman of the Senate Health Committee, have taken more steps to shore up the law than to dismantle it.

• Tara Straw, a health care analyst at the left-leaning Center for Budget and Policy Priorities who has studied the Texas case, said that pressing ahead with efforts to overturn the ACA right now is “unconscionable.”

• [Straw] predicted the decision could have far-reaching consequences: if the coronavirus outbreak spurs a long period of high unemployment, for example, far more than 20 million people could lose coverage if the ACA is struck down.

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