No ACA Replacement Before Election, HHS Chief Suggests

BY ROS K RASNY Bloomberg

The Trump administration doesn't expect to release a detailed health care plan until the Supreme Court rules on the legality of the Affordable Care Act, said U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar.

"We'll work with Congress on a plan if the ACA is struck down," Azar said on NBC's "Meet the Press." "We'll see what the Supreme Court rules."

President Donald Trump's administration last week told the Supreme Court that the ACA, better known as Obamacare, is invalid, including its protections for people with pre-existing conditions. "The entire ACA thus must fall" because of a tax law change made by the Republican-controlled Congress in 2017," the administration said in a brief filed late Thursday.

The court is likely to hear the case around the time of the election, but potentially not until after Americans cast their votes on Nov. 3.

That would leave voters in the dark about how their health care, typically ranked as among the most important issues, might change in 2021 and beyond. Trump and Azar have said repeatedly that any replacement would protect people with pre-existing health conditions, without offering details.

Democrats rode the health care issue in the 2018 midterm elections to retake control of the House and they're planning to do it again in November, when the White House and both chambers of Congress will be on the line.