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NORD and 16 Others File Amicus Brief to Protect Health Care Reform
CONTACT:
Mary Dunkle
mdunkle@rarediseases.org
JUNE 17, 2010
Advocacy Groups to Courts: Don't Let Health Reform Become an Empty Promise
NORD and other leading patient advocacy groups file amicus brief opposing frivolous lawsuits that could undermine the new legislation's protections
against insurance abuses.
WASHINGTON, DC - The National
Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD) and other leading disease and disabilities advocacy groups today filed an amicus brief urging the courts to
protect Americans from lawsuits that would have the effect of undermining protections provided by the nation's new health care reform legislation.
Specifically, the brief was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in response to a
Virginia lawsuit that, the advocacy groups say, could undermine health reform's
protection against discrimination based on pre-existing medical conditions.
"The one in 10 Americans with rare diseases have long endured challenges in accessing health care that include
discrimination against those with pre-existing conditions," said NORD President and CEO Peter L. Saltonstall. "The health reform legislation eliminates that
practice. But the legislation is a package of inter-related parts, and if the courts allow one or more of those parts to be weakened, the insurance reform
protections we fought so hard to secure will be severely threatened."
Other advocacy groups signing the brief with NORD include the March of Dimes Foundation, Families USA, The American
Association of People with Disabilities, and The Arc of the United States. In
all, 17 groups signed the brief (see list below).
The amicus brief is aimed at actions such as the challenge by Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli against the
health reform legislation's "minimum coverage provision", which requires that all individuals take personal responsibility for acquiring some level of health
insurance. If that challenge were to be successful, the advocacy groups argue,the cost of implementing coverage for those with pre-existing conditions might
be prohibitive.
"Ensuring that every American has health coverage spreads the risk more broadly and helps lower costs," said NORD
Board Member Chris Jennings, a Washington-based health policy analyst.
"Experience has shown that, in states that have enacted insurance reforms
without also having a minimum coverage provision, premiums have skyrocketed."
In addition to NORD, the advocacy groups signing the amicus brief are:
The March of Dimes Foundation
The American Association of People with Disabilities
The Arc of the United States
Breast Cancer Action
Families USA
Family Violence Prevention Fund
Friends of Cancer Research
Mental Health America
National Breast Cancer Coalition
National Patient Advocate Foundation
National Partnership for Women and Families
National Senior Citizens Law Center
National Women's Law Center
Ovarian Cancer National Alliance
Raising Women's Voices for the Health Care We Need
United Cerebral Palsy
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