rich 1.0 Action Network https://actionnetwork.org <link href='https://actionnetwork.org/css/style-embed-v3.css' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css' /><script src='https://actionnetwork.org/widgets/v6/petition/paxton-drop-the-suit?format=js&source=widget'></script><div id='can-petition-area-paxton-drop-the-suit' style='width: 100%'><!-- this div is the target for our HTML insertion --></div> #SickOfItTX https://actionnetwork.org/groups/sickofittx-2 https://can2-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/petitions/photos/000/152/975/normal/Red_Paper_Football_Stats_UAAP_NCAA_Twitter_Post_(1).png Why should you sign this petition? The short version: 1.7 million Texans could lose their health insurance if Ken Paxton's lawsuit is successful... that would be a 37% increase in our uninsured rate when Texas ALREADY has the highest rate of uninsured people (including children!) in the country. On Wednesday, December 18, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals gave Paxton a partial victory. Texans' lives are on the line if the rest of the lawsuit goes through. Do I still have my ACA plan? YES! The ACA is still the law of the land, and no matter the next steps, experts believe that the Supreme Court will make the ultimate call. So keep paying your premiums, seeing your doctors, and getting the care you need in the meantime! The long version: For almost 2 years now, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has led a lawsuit to get rid of the Affordable Care Act -- Texas v. United States. If this lawsuit is successful, it would have devastating consequences for Texas (not to mention the rest of the country). Here are just some of the ways Texans will be harmed if the Affordable Care Act gets thrown out (thanks to the Center for Public Policy Priorities for compiling this info): 1.7 million Texas would lose their health care coverage. The state’s uninsured rate would shoot up by 37 percent. 11.6 million Texans with a pre-existing condition – like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, and asthma — would lose protections. Texans would lose guaranteed, no-cost coverage for preventive services – like flu shots, mammograms, and birth control. Insurance companies would once again be able to place lifetime caps on your coverage and charge women more than men. Required coverage of “Essential Health Benefits” – like mental health treatment, prescription drugs, and maternity – would end. 205,000 young adults in Texas who gained coverage by being able to stay on a parent’s plan to age 26 would lose access. Texans would lose a $5 billion/year investment of federal Marketplace subsidies that connect more than 956,000 low- and moderate-income Texans to coverage. Seniors in Texas would have to pay more for prescription drugs. What's the backstory? About a year ago, U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor ruled the entire Affordable Care Act unconstitutional. But a group of states who came together to defend the ACA appealed that decision, which is how the case ended up in the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. That appeals court ruled this past Wednesday in a 2-1 decision that the individual mandate, the portion of the ACA that required each of us to purchase health insurance or pay a fine, was unconstitutional. This is despite the fact that Congress had already changed the fine to $0 (and why one of the judges dissented).   What happens now? The legal wrangling may go on for some time. The 5th Circuit Court sent the case back to U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor to figure out whether the rest of the ACA can still remain the law of the land without the individual mandate. That higher court decided Judge O'Connor's opinion “does not do the necessary legwork” to reach his conclusion that the whole ACA should be thrown out, so now he has to go back and do a deeper analysis of the 900-page ACA to support his decision. Considering that Judge O'Connor already stated his belief that the entire law should be thrown out, things aren't looking good for the ACA... or the Texans who rely on it for health coverage. The group of states working to defend the ACA is asking that the Supreme Court to take the case up immediately, instead of it going back to the district court.   https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/paxton-drop-the-suit