SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Legal Newsline) — California Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced May 16 that he joined a coalition of 16 attorneys general to intervene in a lawsuit brought against the United States by Texas over the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
According to Becerra’s office, if Texas’ lawsuit succeeds it will allow insurance companies to deny coverage to people with preexisting conditions, strip seniors of their prescription drug discounts, strip funding from the nation’s public health system and end tax credits for the middle class.
“The goal of Texas’ lawsuit is to leave Americans without health insurance, forcing them to choose between their health and other needs,” Becerra said. “[This] ruling allows us to protect the health and well-being of these Americans by defending affordable access to healthcare. Before the Affordable Care Act, Americans had shorter lives and paid twice as much for their health care as other developed countries. The passage of the ACA was the first step toward fixing that problem. We must continue to move forward, not backward.”
Becerra is joined in the lawsuit by the attorneys general of Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Virginia, Vermont, Washington and the District of Columbia.