Texas Hospitals Statement on ACA Ruling

(Austin – Dec. 16, 2018) In response to the ruling Friday from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas that the Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional, the Texas Hospital Association released the following statement by Ted Shaw, THA president/CEO.

“The ruling Friday that the Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional will increase the number of Texans without health insurance and hospitals’ uncompensated care costs, yielding clinical and financial outcomes that are bad for Texas.

The ACA was never perfect. Nonetheless, its coverage provisions gave more Texans access to affordable private health insurance and to community-based preventive, primary and specialty health care services.

Every day, Texas hospitals provide the best health care to anyone who seeks it, regardless of their ability to pay. This is federal and state law, but, more importantly, it is core to the lifesaving mission that every Texas hospital shares.

If this ruling stands, more Texans will be forced to rely on hospital emergency departments for care. Some of the costs of that care will get passed on to Texans with employer-sponsored health insurance in the form of higher premiums and to property taxpayers in the form of higher taxes. For a state that strives to be the most business-friendly state in the nation, these are two outcomes we cannot afford.

We look forward to continuing our work with the Texas Congressional delegation to address the weaknesses in the ACA and to support policy solutions that increase the number of Texans with private health insurance.”

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Founded in 1930, the Texas Hospital Association is the leadership organization and principal advocate for the state’s hospitals and health care systems. Based in Austin, THA enhances its members’ abilities to improve accessibility, quality and cost-effectiveness of health care for all Texans. One of the largest hospital associations in the country, THA represents more than 85 percent of the state’s acute-care hospitals and health care systems, which employ some 365,000 health care professionals statewide. Learn more about THA at www.tha.org or follow THA on Twitter at http://twitter.com/texashospitals.