Supreme Court Ruling Leaves ACA Intact

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The Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund applauds the June 17, 2021 Supreme Court decision in California v. Texas, which upheld the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and its critical nondiscrimination and healthcare expansion provisions.  The ruling by the nation's highest Court rejected a significant challenge to the constitutionality of the ACA.  In 2020, DREDF and a number of allied organizations filed an amicus brief opposing attempts to dismantle the ACA provisions that people, including many with disabilities, rely on to receive the healthcare services and supports they need. [...]

Brief of 19 National Disability Rights Organizations as Amici Curiae

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May 14, 2020
Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, the Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, and 17 other national disability rights organizations filed an amicus brief in California v. Texas, a case that will be heard by the Supreme Court in the fall. The brief supports 21 states that are defending the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and provides evidence of how Congress, in the ACA, clearly and intentionally strengthened comprehensive and affordable health coverage for people wilth disabilities.

Know Your Rights in Health Care During COVID-19

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April 30, 2020
People with marginalized bodies face historic and present discrimination in health care. Laws like the ADA and the Affordable Care Act prohibit such discrimination. But the COVID-19 crisis is heightening the risk of discrimination in health care. States, hospitals, and professional organizations have developed policies about who should receive treatment when there are not enough resources to treat everyone who needs medical care. Many of these policies could result in a denial of care of disabled people, trans people, and higher weight people. And many hospitals are failing to ensure the reasonable accommodations people need to access care, such as effective communication or allowing a support person.

DREDF Comments on HHS Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters for 2021

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March 2, 2020
DREDF submitted comments to HHS on proposed rules that would affect the implementation of sections of the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) that directly affect people with disabilities. In our comments, we urge HHS to withdraw proposals that would weaken the ACA’s “Essential Health Benefit” provisions, impose new financial reporting burdens on healthcare marketplace consumers, and make it more difficult for consumers to pay for prescription drugs. We also urged HHS to not expand the use of discriminatory “wellness programs” in health plans in the individual market. Finally, we supported HHS’ proposal to expand the availability of special enrollment periods for health care consumers. [...]

DREDF Comments on Proposed Changes to the Section 1557 Regulations

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August 13, 2019
DREDF is gravely concerned with HHS' proposed amendments to the Section 1557 regulations. While we appreciate that HHS seeks to reduce costs and improve health plan sustainability, these goals cannot be sought at the expense of the civil rights of health care consumers—and particularly those individuals and families who already face pervasive physical, programmatic, and attitudinal barriers in the health care context.

Fight with DREDF for Nondiscrimination in Health Care

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August 8, 2019
When the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was enacted in 2010, Congress intended to provide equal and comprehensive access to health insurance coverage to all Americans, including Americans with disabilities.  Many people with disabilities and their families remember being denied or terminated  from  health coverage, being unable to afford health insurance, and facing specialized annual and lifetime benefit limits.  Before the ACA, if a disabled person found health insurance, it would often leave out coverage of any pre-existing condition and fail to offer important benefits such as mental health coverage, durable medical equipment, or maternity care. The ACA banned many of these enrollment practices and coverage limitations.

Health Advocates Defend ACA in Fifth Circuit Oral Argument

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July 12, 2019
On July 9, 2019, the U.S. Court of the Appeals for the Fifth Circuit heard oral argument in the latest lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The three-judge panel critically questioned the lawyers defending the ACA, leaving advocates concerned that the circuit court may uphold the district court ruling invalidating the health care law.

DREDF Defends ACA in 5th Circuit Amicus Brief

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April 1, 2019
An amicus brief in the Texas v. U..S. case, on appeal in the 5th circuit, was filed on Monday, April 1 by DREDF and the Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, working with the Dentons law firm on behalf of our two organizations and 13 other leading disability rights organizations. The case was originally brought in district court by a number of states, led by Texas, that claimed the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was rendered unconstitutional when the Trump administration reduced the mandatory penalty for failing to buy health insurance to zero, because the ACA was based on Congress' authority to tax and there was no longer a tax. [...]

Trump Administration Bypasses Congress, Declares “All Out War” On Obamacare

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October 13, 2017
Making good on his promise to "never stop" his personal obsession to crush anything connected to Obamacare, late Thursday night President Trump issued a statement saying that his Administration would do away with Federal subsidies to health insurance companies that help pay out of pocket costs for people on low-incomes under the Affordable Care Act. Earlier in the day, President Trump circumvented Congress by signing an Executive Order allowing insurance companies to sell lower cost policies with fewer benefits as a means of drawing younger, healthier people away from existing Obamacare marketplaces.