DENVER – Disability attorneys are closely monitoring the US Supreme Court as it examines a case calling for the Abolition of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
If the court breaks the health bill, 20 million Americans, including at least 600,000 Coloradans, are expected to lose cover.
Julie Reiskin, executive director of the Colorado Cross-Disability Coalition believes everyone should have access to affordable health care, but said people with disabilities are the canaries in the health industry’s coal mine.
“A health system that works for us will work for everyone,” said Reiskin. “Because we have long-term care needs, we often have complicated medication schedules. But when it doesn’t work, it kills us first.”
About 19 disability rights organizations submitted an amicus letter highlighting the ACA’s critical protection in health care.
The law protects people with pre-existing conditions from denial of coverage and guarantees coverage for services for intellectual and developmental disabilities.
When Colorado expanded Medicaid under the ACA, the state also allowed people with disabilities to get Medicaid coverage. One step Reiskin said has enabled many to escape poverty.
If the law is crushed, Reiskin fears that Coloradans will lose benefits that most private insurers don’t cover, such as B. decent wheelchairs or help with showering in the morning, which allows for independence and full contribution to society.
“People may not be able to get the care they need to get out of bed,” said Reiskin. “We’d lose the freedoms that other people take for granted. Even with the Medicaid buy-in, we still have a big gap in terms of employment and income, lots of differences, but at least we have a chance.”
The Supreme Court last month held an oral argument in a case brought by Texas and other states that alleged the entire Affordable Care Act should be overturned because Congress made part of the law unconstitutional as a penalty for individuals eliminated who did not have health insurance.
A decision from the Supreme Court is expected in the spring.
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