WASHINGTON, DC (WJER) - Ohio’s two U.S. senators are offering different outlooks as the Affordable Care Act faces another court challenge.  

A federal appeals court in New Orleans should rule soon whether to uphold a lower court ruling that the health law is unconstitutional. Democrat Sherrod Brown says if the entire law is eventually shot down, that means the end of tax credits to help afford insurance, the elimination of protections for pre-existing conditions and more.

“The ability to stay on your parents’ insurance until you’re 26, gone. Ohio’s entire Medicaid expansion that Governor Kasich and I did, gone. Limits on how much you pay out of pocket each year, gone,” he says. 

However, Republican Rob Portman says he has already co-sponsored legislation to address that biggest concern over ACA repeal. (to keep pre-existing condition protections in place)

“I think even if they were to find the bill unconstitutional that there is now a bi-partisan consensus on particularly handling the issue of pre-existing conditions and ensuring that nobody loses their healthcare coverage because they had a pre-existing illness. That’s a change,” he says.

Whatever decision comes out of the New Orleans court is expected to be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court in the middle of the 2020 elections.  

WJER RADIO