U.S. senators on both sides of the aisle are calling on federal officials to defend the ACA in court, according to The Hill.
On May 1, the Justice Department filed a formal request to a federal judge to strike down the entire health law. But Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., are now urging President Donald Trump's administration to reverse course.
The senators wrote a letter to Attorney General William Barr on May 7, expressing concerns over the Justice Department's decision.
"Overturning the ACA will put millions of Americans at risk of losing their health insurance, including thousands of our constituents who gained health insurance through the Medicaid expansion, and thousands more who gained insurance through the ACA exchanges," they wrote. "With so much at stake, we urge you and the administration to reconsider this position and to defend the consumer protections for seniors, young adults, women, children and working families."
The Justice Department's formal filing and the subsequent letter from the Democrat and Republican senators come more than a month after the Trump administration said it supports a Texas district court ruling that the entire ACA should be invalidated.
The Texas federal judge, Reed O'Connor, concluded in a lawsuit brought by Republican-led states that the entire healthcare law is invalid because Congress eliminated the ACA's individual insurance mandate penalty.