Attorney General Josh Stein Defends the Affordable Care Act and Reproductive Rights

For Immediate Release:
Thursday, October 24, 2024

Contact:
Nazneen Ahmed (919) 716-0060

(RALEIGH) Attorney General Josh Stein took actions this week to defend lifesaving health care for North Carolinians. He filed a friend-of-the-court brief asking the U.S. Supreme Court to protect a key provision of the of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that guarantees access to critical preventive care for millions of Americans. He also filed a different friend-of-the-court brief urging the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to uphold a lower court’s preliminary injunction blocking Idaho’s restrictive abortion ban, which does not include an exception for emergency abortion care.

“North Carolina patients need to access the life-saving care they need when they need it,” said Attorney General Josh Stein. “The Affordable Care Act and federal law that guarantee emergency abortion care are vital to people’s lives and well-being. I will always fight to defend North Carolinians’ health care.”

In the ACA case, Attorney General Stein and a coalition of 24 attorneys general are asking the court to hear and reverse a lower court’s decision that would prohibit the federal government from enforcing a provision in the ACA that requires most private insurers to cover certain preventive services and treatments, such as cancer screenings and vaccinations, without charging patients out of pocket. Prohibiting the preventive services provisions could cause a significant gap in health care coverage in the states, which would be especially frustrating after North Carolina worked to close its coverage gap by expanding Medicaid last year.

Since the ACA became law in 2010, many Americans have come to rely on the no-cost health care access provided by the provision. Within four years of the ACA’s passage, approximately 76 million Americans gained expanded coverage to one or more preventive services. As of 2020, an estimated 151.6 million people were enrolled in private insurance plans that cover preventive services at no cost to patients.

Attorney General Stein also joined a coalition of 24 attorneys general urging an appellate court to uphold a lower court’s ruling blocking Idaho’s restrictive abortion ban, which does not include an exception for emergency abortion care. The federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) requires hospitals that operate an emergency department and participate in Medicare – virtually every hospital in the country – to treat all patients who have an emergency medical condition before discharging or transferring them. If Idaho is allowed to override these federal protections, pregnant women risk dying or suffering irreversible injuries. It would also lead to worse patient care, patients leaving Idaho to seek care in other states, and doctors leaving Idaho to work in other states.

A copy of the ACA brief is available here.
A copy of the EMTALA brief is available here.

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