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WASHINGTON: As coronavirus cases rise in more than half of the states, the Trump administration is urging the Supreme Court to overturn the Affordable Care Act.
The administration’s high court filing at 10: 30 pm Thursday came the same day the government reported that close to half a million people who lost their health insurance amid the economic shutdown to slow the spread of Covid-19 have gotten coverage through HealthCare.gov.
The administration’s legal brief makes no mention of the virus.
More than 20 million Americans could lose their health coverage and protections for people with preexisting health conditions also would be put at risk if the court agrees with the administration. Nothing will happen immediately. The case won’t be heard before the fall.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi blasted the administration’s latest move in a partisan battle over “Obamacare” that has stretched on for a full decade since the law’s passage in 2010.
Pelosi is planning a floor vote early next week on her own bill to expand the ACA, sweetening its health insurance subsidies so more people will be covered.
“There is no legal justification and no moral excuse for the Trump administration’s disastrous efforts to take away Americans’ health care,” she said in a statement.
Just as the nation seemed to be getting better control over the virus outbreak,