WISCONSIN — Today, Governor Tony Evers, Wisconsinites with pre-existing conditions Rev. Dana Kelley and Dustin Klein, and Dr. Mike Miller joined Protect Our Care Wisconsin to discuss how the Trump-Republican lawsuit to eliminate the Affordable Care Act would impact health care coverage for millions of Americans in the middle of a public health emergency made worse by the Trump administration’s failure to confront the crisis head-on.

Today, just one week after the presidential election, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the Trump administration and Republicans’ lawsuit to eliminate the Affordable Care Act. If the Court sides with Republicans, and overturns the Affordable Care Act, Wisconsinites with pre-existing conditions, including those who have survived COVID-19 and are suffering longer-term health consequences could be discriminated against by insurers, and lose access to affordable health coverage.

Gov. Evers led off the panel, remarking that:

“In the middle of a global pandemic what we need is more access to quality, affordable health care. Not less. Health care shouldn’t be limited to the healthy and wealthy. That’s why we need to do everything we can to protect the Affordable Care Act and coverage for the more than 2.4 million Wisconsinites, including yours truly, who have pre-existing conditions. Especially those who have survived COVID-19 and are suffering longer term health consequences. And we need elected officials to stop litigating when they should be legislating.” 

Reverend Dana Kelley spoke to the unique challenges COVID-19 presents to communities of color and her own concerns about health care given that she has multiple pre-existing conditions, including COVID-19.

“The Affordable Care Act can allow for people like me with pre-existing conditions, employed or unemployed, to afford quality health care,” said Kelley, urging officials to, “Just do what is right,” by protecting the ACA.

Dustin Klein, a young professional in Milwaukee, spoke to the importance of ACA consumer protections that include lifetime and annual caps. Klein’s bleeding disorder requires regular treatments that would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars out of pocket without access to insurance.

“The ACA has allowed people like me to have health care continuously,” noted Klein.

Dr. Mike Miller addressed the essential health benefits within the ACA. 

“The thing that’s most popular with the public is the pre-existing condition protections,” said Miller. “But there are so many other aspects of this,” before describing the essential health benefits provisions of the ACA.

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