While Pennsylvania surpasses 83,000 cases of coronavirus and experiences some of the highest single-day death tolls in weeks, opening briefs were filed yesterday in a lawsuit, backed by Congressman Scott Perry, to overturn the Affordable Care Act. If the Perry-supported lawsuit is successful, it would strip health care away from 42,000 people in PA-10 in the midst of a deadly pandemic. It would also eliminate protections for pre-existing conditions and subject Pennsylvanians to higher health insurance premiums, or outright denial of coverage due to a COVID-19 infection or related complications afterward.
Democratic candidate for Pennsylvania’s 10th Congressional District, Eugene DePasquale, made the following statement on Perry’s support for the lawsuit:
“The right for individuals to have access to affordable health care is personal to me. I remember when insurance companies turned my family away when my younger brother Anthony was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy. My family had to bear the full cost of his treatment, and the debt we had to take on nearly cost us everything,” said DePasquale. “Congressman Perry’s support for a lawsuit that would end protections for pre-existing conditions and take health care away from 42,000 residents of PA-10 as they face a global pandemic makes him unfit to serve in Congress. Congressman Perry has obviously forgotten that his job is to fight for the people of this district. The families of this district, and across this state, deserve better.”
As Pennsylvania’s Auditor General, Eugene advocated to protect the health care of 675,000 rural Pennsylvanians, and warned against this very lawsuit nearly a year ago.
