Washington, D.C. — Today, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, Executive Director of the American Public Health Association Georges Benjamin, and experienced Supreme Court and Appellate lawyer Andrew Pincus joined Protect Our Care for a virtual press conference to discuss the upcoming Supreme Court oral arguments in Kennedy, et al. v. Braidwood and the threats to American health care posed by the case.
Far-right extremists are urging the Supreme Court to invalidate a key portion of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that requires insurers to cover lifesaving preventive services for free. Eliminating patient fees for these lifesaving screenings and services has transformed how preventive care is delivered, saved countless lives, improved health outcomes, reduced disparities in care, and cut consumer health care costs. Read more about the case here.
“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” said Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison. “Prevention means families will have their loved ones with them longer and be able to enjoy greater health and greater experiences with each other. The plaintiffs are willing to destroy health care for everybody. Legally, they’re on weak grounds, but also on moral grounds, trying to dictate how people’s lives are lived at the end of the day.”
“We’ve had success in increased use of preventive health services since the Affordable Care Act was passed,” said Georges Benjamin, Executive Director of the American Public Health Association. “Should the Supreme Court not agree with our perspective on this, it means more preventable deaths at even a higher cost to Americans. Every American should be appalled at any attempt to remove it.”
“If the Supreme Court sides with the plaintiffs, the covered recommendations would be frozen as of the date that the ACA was enacted,” said Andrew Pincus, an experienced Supreme Court and Appellate Lawyer. “All of the new recommendations that have been adopted in the last 15 years would no longer have to be covered cost-free. This would be a tremendous loss for America, and a tremendous increase in overall health care costs, because it means terrible diseases are not going to be detected, and either people will have to be treated at greater cost, or they will die.”
”Free preventive care services are a lifeline that Americans cannot afford to lose,” said Leslie Dach, Chair of Protect Our Care. “This lawsuit is just the latest in a long line of targeted attacks designed to rip away affordable health care, and it’s everyday Americans who will pay the price. Unfortunately, the threat doesn’t stop with the Supreme Court. Given the Trump administration’s ongoing attacks on health care, we must remain vigilant to ensure access to science-backed preventative services are protected.”