HOUSE OF REPS/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/LEGAL/OBAMACARE/PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The House voted Wednesday [4-3-19] to condemn the Trump administration for pushing a federal appeals court to obliterate the Affordable Care Act, and it urged the Justice Department to defend the law in court. The vote, 240-186, was nonbinding, but it documented the House’s support of the health law, which was passed nine years ago without the votes of any Republicans. With the resolution, Democrats sought to put Republicans on the record for failing to come to the defense of the health law’s most popular provisions, such as protecting people with pre-existing medical conditions and mandating coverage for “essential health benefits,” like mental health coverage, prescription drugs, emergency services and maternity care. Eight Republicans voted for it. One Democrat opposed…A federal judge in Texas invalidated all of the Affordable Care Act in December. Last week the Trump administration told the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, in New Orleans, that it agreed with the judge’s decision. California and other states that support the Affordable Care Act have appealed the decision. If the entire law is struck down, millions of people could lose coverage provided through the expansion of Medicaid and through private insurance subsidized by the federal government.”
–Robert Pear, “House Condemns Trump Administration for Legal Attack on Health Law,” The New York Times online, April 3, 2019