The Consequences for Pennsylvania of Declaring the ACA Unconstitutional
Originally published by KRC-PBPC at https://krc-pbpc.org/research_publication/the-consequences-for-pennsylvania-of-declaring-the-aca-unconstitutional/ A case coming before the Supreme Court threatens to declare the entire Affordable Care Act unconstitutional. If that happens, the effect on Pennsylvania and Pennsylvanians would be devastating, according to estimates we made in July of 2019, which are undoubtedly lower than a similar study would find today.[1] In Pennsylvania, 27% of adults under the age 65, or 2.1 million people, would be uninsurable in the private insurance market due to pre-existing conditions (assuming that private insurance returns to the rules in force before the ACA was in effect). This does not include the millions of people who would have to pay more for insurance because of their pre-existing conditions. The number of uninsured Pennsylvanians would rise from 644,000 to 1,502,000, an increase from 6.2% to 14.4% of the population. Prescription drug costs would rise by $226 million for 208,000 Pennsylvania seniors on Medicare. One provision of the ACA closes the Medicare… Continue reading
