Will Republicans’ Lawsuit Reinstate Denial For “Preexisting Conditions”?

A lawsuit signed by 18 Republican attorneys general and two Republican governors would block the Affordable Care Act. Some Democrats and many health care experts say that is tantamount to suing to allow insurers to, once again, deny coverage on the basis of preexisting conditions. One Democrat who makes that claim is Joe Manchin, who is being challenged for his Senate seat in West Virginia by the state’s attorney general, Patrick Morrisey. Morrisey is one of the signatories to the lawsuit. Manchin is making it a campaign issue in what is shaping up to be an important race, in a state that Trump took in the 2016 election by more than 40 points. Morrisey’s campaign denies the candidate opposes protecting insureds who have preexisting conditions and maintains he would want to see them restored in whatever replaces Obamacare. According to one health care policy analyst, there are only two ways that could happen without something like the regulations built into the ACA: setting premiums so high practically no one could afford them, or requiring extremely high deductibles or out-of-pocket payments.