Hoyer Statement on Court Order to Delay House v. Burwell

WASHINGTON, DC - House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD) released the following statement tonight after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia issued an order to delay consideration of House v. Burwell until after Inauguration Day:

“The Affordable Care Act (ACA) made it possible for 20 million previously uninsured Americans to get covered, ended discrimination against women and those with pre-existing conditions, and slowed the rate of growth in health care costs to historic lows.  Despite these achievements, House Republicans have worked for years to undermine the law, including by filing a lawsuit in 2014 seeking to stop payments for cost-sharing reductions that bring down out-of-pocket costs for low-income Americans. Now, with today’s court order in House v. Burwell, it will be possible for the next President to sabotage the ACA immediately upon taking office without any action by Congress, upending the stability of health insurance markets and eliminating subsidies that enable millions of Americans to afford health coverage.  If Donald Trump were to order his Justice Department to stop defending the legality of the ACA’s cost-saving subsidies in court, that decision on its own could lead to millions of Americans losing their health insurance next year and the collapse of our health insurance marketplaces. 

“It would be a disastrous mistake to turn the clock back, stripping health coverage away from those who now have it.  The American people deserve to see a detailed replacement plan before any effort by President-Elect Trump and Congressional Republicans to repeal the ACA moves ahead.  House Democrats will hold Mr. Trump fully accountable if any American consumer is forced off his or her insurance coverage because of actions by the Trump administration next year.”