Thread by @charles_gaba

⚠️ GRAPHICS-HEAVY THREAD: Next week, the #TexasFoldEm lawsuit brought by 20 Republican Attorneys General against the #ACA goes to court. The Trump Administration is refusing to defend against it even though it EVERY legal expert says it’s a pile of steaming garbage. 1/

2/ If the #TexasFoldEm plaintiffs succeed, federal protections for those w/#PreExistingConditions would be gone. Not just on the individual market…people w/EMPLOYER coverage would be at risk as well, especially since most people are out of a job at least once in their lives.

3/ Here’s a reminder of the idiotic “argument” the #TexasFoldEm plaintiffs are using:
1. SCOTUS ruled the #ACA mandate is only Constitutional because it’s a tax.
2. The GOP repealed the mandate tax.
3. Therefore, they get to repeal the rest of the #ACA as well.
Really. That’s it.

4/ The GOP (which BROUGHT THE LAWSUIT IN THE FIRST PLACE, mind you) *knows* that they’ll be in even deeper doo-doo than they already are if they WIN their insultingly stupid case, so they’re doing damage control with a new bill which is ALSO insultingly stupid.

5/ Here’s how the GOP’s “solution” to the existential problem THEY CREATED would work: It would require insurers to sell policies to those w/pre-existing conditions…but WOULDN’T require them to actually COVER those pre-existing conditions. BRILLIANT!

acasignups.net/18/08/24/sigh-…

6/ So, if you have cancer or diabetes, they could agree to sell you a policy which covers everything EXCEPT…cancer or diabetes.

If you fell and broke your arm on your way to your chemotherapy session, they’d probably cover your broken arm…but not the chemo treatment. Nice.

7/ So, what IS a “pre-existing condition”? Let’s take a look. Here’s a PARTIAL list of the types of pre-existing conditions which insurance companies could use to either deny you coverage for having (or, under the GOP bill, deny coverage OF altogether):
cnn.com/2017/05/05/hea…

8/

Acne
Acromegaly
AIDS or ARC
Alzheimer's Disease
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
Anemia (Aplastic, Cooley's, Hemolytic, Mediterranean or Sickle Cell)
Anxiety
Aortic or Mitral Valve Stenosis
Arteriosclerosis
Arteritis
Asbestosis
Asthma
Bipolar disease
Cancer
Cardiomyopathy

9/
Cerebral Palsy (infantile)
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
Cirrhosis of the Liver
Coagulation Defects
Congestive Heart Failure
Cystic Fibrosis
Demyelinating Disease
Depression
Dermatomyositis
Diabetes
Dialysis
Esophageal Varicosities
Friedreich's Ataxia

10/
Hepatitis (Type B, C or Chronic)
Menstrual irregularities
Multiple Sclerosis
Muscular Dystrophy
Myasthenia Gravis
Obesity
Organ transplants
Paraplegia
Parkinson's Disease
Polycythemia Vera
Pregnancy
Psoriatic Arthritis
Pulmonary Fibrosis
Renal Failure
Sarcoidosis
Scleroderma

11/
Sex reassignment
Sjogren's Syndrome
Sleep apnea
Transsexualism
Tuberculosis

…and that’s just a (VERY) partial list. According to @wcsanders and @larry_levitt (both of whom know this issue very well), the full list is basically “whatever the hell the insurance company says.”

12/ You may have heard the figure “130 million” thrown around. That’s the number of non-elderly Americans who the HHS Dept. themselves stated may have a pre-existing condition which could get them either denied coverage or charged exorbiant rates for w/out the #ACA’s protections.

13/ Last year, the Center for American Progress broke out those ~130M people by Congressional District & age group. I added estimate of how many of those w/pre-existing conditions are on the #ACA individual market (vs. those w/employer coverage): acasignups.net/18/06/28/cap-d…

14/ Here’s all 51 (w/DC) states. Please share widely, but remember to note that these are from about a year and a half ago, so the numbers will be a bit different since then (and a few members of Congress have changed via special elections).

15/ ALABAMA: 1.9 MILLION total, ~123K on the individual market.

16/ ALASKA: ~326,000 total, ~12K on the individual market.

17/ ARIZONA: 2.7 MILLION total, ~178K on the individual market.

18/ ARKANSAS: 1.1 MILLION total, ~68,000 on the individual market.

19/ CALIFORNIA: 16.6 MILLION total; ~1.1 million on the individual market.

20/ COLORADO: 2.3 MILLION total; ~161,000 on the individual market.

21/ CONNECTICUT: 1.5 MILLION total; ~88,000 on the individual market.

22/ DELAWARE: 389,000 total; ~18,000 on the individual market.

23/ DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: 291,000 total; ~12,000 on the individual market.

24/ FLORIDA: 7.8 MILLION total; ~991,000 on the individual market.

25/ GEORGIA: ~4.3 MILLION total; ~310,000 on the individual market.

26/ HAWAII: 593,000 total; ~22,000 on the individual market

27/ IDAHO: 673,000 total; 67,000 on the individual market

28/ ILLINOIS: 5.4 MILLION total; ~327,000 on the individual market.

29/ INDIANA: 2.7 MILLION total; ~117,000 on the individual market.

30/ IOWA: 1.2 MILLION total; ~91,000 on the individual market.

31/ KANSAS: 1.2 MILLION total; ~84,000 on the individual market.

32/ KENTUCKY: 1.8 million total; ~66K on the individual market.

33/ LOUISIANA: 1.9 million total; ~118K on the individual market.

34/ MAINE: 548,000 total; ~43,000 on the individual market.

35/ MARYLAND: 2.5 million total; ~145,000 on the individual market.

36/ MASSACHUSETTS: 2.9 million total; ~152,000 on the individual market.

37/ MICHIGAN: 4.1 MILLION total; ~226,000 on the individual market.

38/ MINNESOTA: 2.3 million total; ~137,000 on the individual market.

39/ MISSISSIPPI: 1.2 million total; ~69,000 on the individual market.

40/ MISSOURI: 2.5 million total; ~185,000 on the individual market.

41/ MONTANA: 425,000 total; ~37,000 on the individual market.

42/ NEBRASKA: 783,000 total; ~71,000 on the individual market.

43/ NEVADA: 1.2 million total; ~71,000 on the individual market.

44/ NEW HAMPSHIRE: 572,000 total; ~33,000 on the individual market.

45/ NEW JERSEY: 3.8 million total; ~183,000 on the individual market.

46/ NEW MEXICO: 843,000 total; 38,000 on the individual market.

47/ NEW YORK: 8.4 MILLION total; ~521,000 on the individual market.

48/ NORTH CAROLINA: 3.9 million total; ~342,000 on the individual market.

49/ NORTH DAKOTA: 316,000 total; ~15,000 on the individual market.

50/ OHIO: 4.8 MILLION total; ~200,000 on the individual market.

51/ OKLAHOMA: 1.5 million total; ~99,000 on the individual market.

52/ OREGON: 1.6 million total; ~85,000 on the individual market.

53/ PENNSYLVANIA: 5.3 million total; ~307,000 on the individual market.

54/ RHODE ISLAND: 443,000 total; ~18,000 on the individual market.

55/ SOUTH CAROLINA: ~2.0 MILLION total; ~140,000 on the individual market.

56/ SOUTH DAKOTA: 352,000 total; ~20,000 on the individual market.

57/ TENNESSEE: 2.7 million total; ~192,000 on the individual market.

58/ TEXAS: 11.5 MILLION total; ~775,000 on the individual market.

59/ UTAH: 1.2 million total; ~124,000 on the individual market.

60/ VERMONT: 263,000 total; ~22,000 on the individual market.

61/ VIRGINIA: 3.4 million total; ~260,000 on the individual market.

62/ WASHINGTON STATE: 3.0 MILLION total; ~158,000 on the individual market.

63/ WEST VIRGINIA: 738,000 total; ~22,000 on the individual market.

64/ WISCONSIN: 2.4 MILLION total; ~143,000 on the individual market.

65/ WYOMING: ~248,000 total; ~17,000 on the individual market.

66/ WHEW! Done. There you have it: ~130 million Americans who are at risk of losing coverage protections if #TexasFoldEm succeeds next week…and are even MORE in danger if Brent Kavanaugh is confirmed for the Supreme Court.
#StopKavanaugh
#StopKavanaugh
#StopKavanaugh

67/ And with that, I’m done. If you find my work useful and are in a position to support it, please consider doing so either monthly or one-time here, thank you!

acasignups.net/donate