Condemning the Trump Administration's Legal Campaign to Take Away Americans' Health Care.

H. Res. 271 In the House of Representatives, U. S., April 3, 2019. Whereas on February 26, 2018, 18 State attorneys general and 2 Governors filed a lawsuit in the United States Dis- trict Court for the Northern District of Texas, Texas v. United States, No. 4:18–cv–00167–O (N.D. Tex.) (in this preamble referred to as ‘‘Texas v. United States’’), arguing that the requirement of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Public Law 111–148; 124 Stat. 119) (in this preamble referred to as the ‘‘ACA’’) to maintain minimum essential coverage is unconstitutional and, as a result, the court should invalidate the entire law; Whereas in a June 7, 2018, letter to Congress, then Attorney General Jefferson Sessions announced that the Depart- ment of Justice— (1) would not defend the constitutionality of the minimum essential coverage provision; and (2) would argue that provisions protecting individ- uals with pre-existing conditions (specifically the provi- sions commonly known as ‘‘community rating’’ and ‘‘guaranteed issue’’) are inseverable from the minimum essential coverage provision and should be invalidated; Whereas in the June 7, 2018, letter to Congress, Attorney General Sessions also advised Congress that ‘‘the Depart- 2 •HRES 271 EH ment will continue to argue that Section 5000A(a) is sev- erable from the remaining provisions of the ACA’’, indi- cating a difference from the plaintiffs’ position in Texas v. United States; Whereas on December 14, 2018, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas issued an order that declared the requirement to maintain minimum es- sential coverage unconstitutional and struck down the ACA in its entirety, including protections for individuals with pre-existing conditions; Whereas the decision of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas was stayed and is pending appeal before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit; Whereas on March 25, 2019, the Department of Justice, in a letter to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, changed its position and announced that the entire ruling of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas should be upheld and the entire ACA should be declared unconstitutional; Whereas prior to 2014, individuals with pre-existing condi- tions were routinely denied health insurance coverage, subject to coverage exclusions, charged unaffordable pre- mium rates, exposed to unaffordable out-of-pocket costs, and subject to lifetime and annual limits on health insur- ance coverage; Whereas as many as 133 million nonelderly people in the United States— (1) have a pre-existing condition and could have been denied coverage, only offered coverage at an exorbi- tant price had they needed individual market health in- 3 •HRES 271 EH surance prior to 2014, or had coverage for their pre-ex- isting condition excluded prior to 2014; and (2) will lose protections for pre-existing conditions if the ruling of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas is upheld in Texas v. United States; Whereas contrary to President Trump’s public claims that he supports protections for people with pre-existing condi- tions, he has ordered his Department of Justice to ac- tively pursue the destruction of these protections in Fed- eral court; Whereas employer-provided health plans cannot place lifetime or annual limits on health coverage, and if the Trump Administration succeeds in its argument before the court, more than 100 million people in the United States who receive health insurance through their employer could once again face lifetime or annual coverage limits; Whereas if the Trump Administration succeeds in its argu- ment before the court, insurers would be allowed to im- pose an unlimited ‘‘age tax’’ on the health insurance pre- miums of older Americans; Whereas prior to 2010, Medicare enrollees faced massive out- of-pocket prescription drug costs once they reached a cer- tain threshold known as the Medicare ‘‘donut hole’’, and since the donut hole began closing in 2010, millions of Medicare beneficiaries have saved billions of dollars on prescription drugs; Whereas at a time when 3 in 10 adults report not taking pre- scribed medicines because of the cost, if the Trump Ad- ministration succeeds in its argument before the court, 4 •HRES 271 EH seniors enrolled in Medicare would face billions of dollars in new prescription drug costs; Whereas as of March 2019, 37 States, including the District of Columbia, have expanded or are in the process of ex- panding Medicaid to individuals with incomes up to 138 percent of the Federal poverty level, providing health cov- erage to more than 12 million newly eligible people; Whereas if the Trump Administration succeeds in its argu- ment before the court, the millions of individuals and families who receive coverage from Medicaid could lose eligibility and no longer have access to health care; Whereas as of March 2019, many people who buy individual health insurance are provided tax credits to reduce the cost of premiums and assistance to reduce out-of-pocket costs such as copays and deductibles, which has made in- dividual health insurance coverage affordable for millions of people in the United States for the first time; Whereas if the Trump Administration succeeds in its argu- ment before the court, the health insurance individual ex- changes would be eliminated and millions of people in the United States who buy health insurance on the individual marketplaces could lose coverage and would see premium expenses for individual health insurance increase exorbi- tantly; Whereas if the Trump Administration succeeds in its argu- ment before the court, people in the United States would lose numerous consumer protections in their coverage, in- cluding the requirements that— (1) plans offer preventive care without cost-sharing; (2) young adults have the option to remain on a par- ent’s insurance plan until age 26; and 5 •HRES 271 EH (3) many health insurance plans offer a comprehen- sive set of essential health benefits such as maternity care, addiction treatment, and prescription drug cov- erage; Whereas pursuant to section 516 of title 28, United States Code, the conduct of litigation in which the United States is a party is reserved to the Department of Justice; Whereas public reports suggest that the President and his political advisors directed this course of action in direct contravention of the Department of Justice’s long- standing policy to defend Acts of Congress and duty to advance reasonable analysis of legal questions, for exam- ple— (1) when the Department of Justice changed its liti- gating position on June 7, 2018, in the Texas v. United States case to ask the court to strike down the ACA’s guaranteed issue and community rating requirements, thereby eliminating protections for people with pre-exist- ing conditions and reinstating legal discrimination based on health status, that position was found to be so legally indefensible that three of the four career attorneys rep- resenting the Government refused to sign the relevant briefs and removed themselves from the case; and (2) when the Department of Justice again changed its litigating position on March 25, 2019, in the appeal of Texas v. United States to seek the invalidation of every provision of the ACA, it was reported that decision was made over the objections of both the Department of Justice as well as the Department of Health and Human Services; and Whereas the Trump Administration has proceeded in the Texas v. United States lawsuit with total disregard for 6 •HRES 271 EH the consequences of its actions for the lives of millions of Americans: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Represent- atives that— (1) the actions taken by the Trump Administration seeking the invalidation of the ACA’s protections for people with pre-existing conditions, and later the invali- dation of the entire ACA, are an unacceptable assault on the health care of the American people; and (2) the Department of Justice should— (A) protect individuals with pre-existing condi- tions, seniors struggling with high prescription drug costs, and the millions of people in the United States who newly gained health insurance coverage since 2014; (B) cease any and all efforts to destroy Ameri- cans’ access to affordable health care; and (C) reverse its position in Texas v. United States, No. 19–10011 (5th Cir.). Attest: Clerk.