US: With a jab at Trump, Pelosi unveils new 'Obamacare' bill

Flicking a dismissive jab at President Donald Trump, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi unveiled a plan Wednesday to expand Obama-era health law, even as Trump's ministration is about to file arguments in a Supreme Court case to strike down “Obamacare.”

Pelosi anunced an upcoming floor vote on her measure, setting up a debate that will juxtapose Democrats' top policy issue, Trump's unrelenting efforts to dismantle Obama's legacy, and untamed coronavirus pandemic.

On Thursday, Trump ministration is

Trying to overturn a health insurance expansion providing cover to about 20 million people “was wrong any time,” Pelosi said.

“w, it is beyond stupid," she ded. “Beyond stupid.”

COVID-19 cases are rising in major states like Texas, Florida and California, and millions of workers who have lost cover in ecomic shutdown to contain virus can rely on health law as a backup.

White House said Pelosi is just playing politics. “Inste of diving back into partisan games, Democrats should continue to work with president on se important issues and ensuring our country emerges from this pandemic stronger than ever,” spokesman Judd Deere said Wednesday in a statement.

latest legislation has chance in Republican-controlled Senate.

Pelosi's bill would expand subsidies, allowing more people to qualify for cover under ACA. It would financially squeeze some states that have refused to expand Medicaid under health law. And it would empower Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices — a position Trump once favored but later abandoned.

It would also undo Trump ministration's expansion of short-term insurance plans that don't have to cover preexisting medical conditions, something Democrats say will undermine a central achievement of ACA.

Democrats won control of House in 2018 on ir defense of health care law. Since n, that chamber has voted on most of measures in Pelosi's plan in one form or ar.

But, as underscored in a memo last month led by Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chair Cheri Bustos, D-Ill., broer goal is to make Republicans squirm.

“Republicans at all levels own this lawsuit’s attack on Americans’ health care,” said memo. “y will be held responsible for ir party-wide obsession with throwing our health care system into chaos and stripping health care from 20 million Americans during a global pandemic.”

Obama's law has grown more popular since Trump's unsuccessful effort to repeal it in 2017, when Republicans controlled both House and Senate. In May, a poll from npartisan Kaiser Family Foundation found that 51% of Americans view “Obamacare” favorably while 41% have unfavorable views.

An earlier Kaiser poll found also found that nearly 6 in 10 are worried y or someone in ir family will lose cover if Supreme Court overturns eir entire law or its protections for people with preexisting medical conditions.

In case before court, Texas and or conservative-led states argue that ACA was essentially rendered unconstitutional after Congress passed tax legislation in 2017 that eliminated law's unpopular fines for t having health insurance, but left in place its requirement that virtually all Americans have cover.

conservative states argued that elimination of fines me law’s so-called individual mandate unconstitutional. U.S. District Judge Reed O’Conr in Texas agreed, ding that mandate was so central to law that without it rest must also fall.

Trump ministration’s views on law have shifted over time, but it has always supported getting rid of provisions that prohibit insurance companies from discriminating against people on account of ir medical history. neless, Trump has repeatedly assured Americans that people with preexisting conditions would still be protected. Neir White House r congressional Republicans have specified how.

A federal appeals court in New Orleans found health law’s insurance requirement to be unconstitutional, but me decision on such popular provisions as protections for people with preexisting conditions, Medicaid expansion and cover for young ults up to 26 on ir parents’ policies. It sent case back to O'Conr to determine wher or parts of law can be separated from insurance requirement, and remain in place.

Democratic-led states supporting ACA appealed to Supreme Court. It's unclear if court will hear oral arguments before vember election. A decision is unlikely until next year.

court has twice upheld law, with Chief Justice John Roberts memorably siding with court’s liberals in 2012, amid Obama’s reelection campaign. majority that upheld law twice remains on court.