San Francisco Personal Injury Attorney On What's At Stake In ...

Personal injury victims, like all Americans, have a great deal at stake in the Supreme Court?s coming opinion on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

And there?s a great deal of speculation about what the Supreme Court will do and won?t do. But here is what we know: if part or all of the ACA is struck down, there will be real consequences for both the insured and uninsured.

For past posts on Health Care reform click here and here.

Here is what is at stake for everyone and specifically for personal injury victims.

Let?s say you?re a young person, aged 19 to 25, and you?re involved in a personal injury accident, because of the ACA you may be covered by your parents? health care policy. So you would have health insurance and access to specialists and physical therapy and pretty much whatever care is deemed medically necessary by your doctors. If the ACA is found unconstitutional, you lose that. All of it. Unless you are independently wealthy and able to afford a private policy or lucky enough to have health insurance through work (not to mention a job).

But let?s say that you don?t have health insurance through your parents or work or anywhere. Well, starting in 2014 Medicaid will be expanded to cover all households that are living around the federal poverty limit, which is about $30,000 in annual income for a family of four. So you would be covered under that aspect of the bill, which means you get medical care that you don?t have to go to the ER for.

But what if you have were involved in a personal injury accident in the past? Now you have a pre-existing condition if you seek to purchase insurance for yourself and your family. You could be denied coverage or charged a much higher premium because of your past personal injury accident. But not if the ACA is upheld. Starting in 2014 insurance companies will not be able to charge higher premiums or deny coverage based on health, age, or a pre-existing condition.

But what if you haven?t been involved in a personal injury accident and you?re just one of the millions of folks who would like to purchase insurance for yourself or your family but can?t afford to? For these folks the ACA creates state insurance exchanges. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that as many as 23 million individuals will gain coverage because of state insurance exchanges. But, not if the Supreme Court finds the ACA unconstitutional.

Now, it?s true that the Court is only looking at one aspect of the law ? the individual mandate. However, the whole act is so dependent on that aspect of the law that it is our opinion that to find the mandate unconstitutional is to render the law unworkable.

According to the best estimates, there are over 31 million Americans who won?t have coverage and otherwise couldn?t have health insurance coverage but for the ACA.

And that, is what?s at stake.

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