To the American people:

As physicians and healthcare professionals, we are gravely concerned about the effort to strike down the Affordable Care Act. President Trump and 18 attorneys general remain supporters of, and state plaintiffs in, the lawsuit to repeal the ACA, Texas v. California. If successful, the suit threatens healthcare for more than 100 million people with preexisting conditions, to whom insurance corporations can once again discriminate against and deny health coverage.

Additionally, repealing the law now without a replacement threatens to take away healthcare for 23 million people who have coverage through the ACA, including around 3 million laid off workers who lost their employer-provided healthcare but now qualify for coverage under the ACA.

Since 2010, the ACA has helped 20 million Americans who were once uninsured get healthcare. Millions of Americans can now manage chronic conditions such as diabetes and heart disease so they can enjoy a better quality of life, and in many cases avoid premature death. As physicians, we see how the ACA improves access to healthcare for all people, especially underserved and minority populations.

We have cared for patients who lost their jobs because of COVID-19, yet could resume lifesaving treatment through Medicaid expansion under the ACA. We have cared for uninsured patients whose diabetes spiraled out of control until the ACA provided an affordable healthcare option that saved their lives. Because the ACA allows young people to stay on their parents’ insurance until the age of 26, we have cared for patients struggling with addiction but who got therapy that kept them out of jail and on the road to recovery. Again and again, we have met and cared for countless patients just like these. The ACA improves lives and inspires hope in people.

From a medical and health perspective, repealing the ACA without a replacement under any circumstance would be harmful. In the middle of a rapidly worsening COVID-19 pandemic, removing healthcare that is a vital lifeline for Americans from all walks of life would be catastrophic. That’s especially true now that COVID-19 can be considered a pre-existing condition that disqualifies someone from getting coverage or prices them out of being able to do so.

Millions of people have lost their employer-sponsored insurance (ESI), and with many unable to replace it, they could become uninsured. The ACA has helped many newly unemployed Americans who previously were covered by employer-sponsored insurance get health coverage, either through the ACA marketplaces, possibly with financial assistance to make their coverage more affordable, or via Medicaid expansion.

Having healthcare now, in the middle of so much sickness, death and job losses, is more critical than ever. Without healthcare, people are less likely to manage chronic diseases, delay lifesaving care, skip treatments and medications, and struggle to work, care for their families and give back to their communities. They would be less likely to get tested, get vaccinated and get treated, potentially spreading COVID-19 to those near them.

In the middle of a pandemic that has killed nearly a quarter-of-a-million Americans and infected more than 9 million more, leaving many of them with lingering medical complications and potential damage to vital organs such as their heart, brain and lungs, taking away their healthcare now without a robust replacement will put lives in danger. The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrates that Americans need and deserve more healthcare, not less.

We encourage all Americans to join healthcare workers in demanding our elected leaders protect healthcare and prevent its repeal, even more so now during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Signed: