Cutting the the Affordable Care Act is not based in law or the public’s interest

Sacramento Bee

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Rejecting the advice of his attorney general and his secretary of Health and Human Services, President Trump decided to file a brief urging the federal court of appeals to declare unconstitutional the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. This is inexcusable and inexplicable, both as a matter of health policy and as an issue of law.

By any measure, the Affordable Care Act has been a success. Declaring it unconstitutional would have disastrous consequences for our health care system. An estimated 22 million people would lose their health insurance coverage if the Trump administration succeeds in having the law struck down. Moreover, the act instituted many long overdue and highly desirable reforms of the health insurance industry.