After Brad Schimel Failed to Rip Away Wisconsinites’ Health Care, the Affordable Care Act Turns 15

MADISON, Wis. — On the 15th anniversary of the day the Affordable Care Act was signed into law, and almost four years after Brad Schimel lost his lawsuit to overturn the ACA and rip away Americans’ health care, Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Ben Wikler released the following statement:

“The Affordable Care Act passed into law 15 years ago thanks to the tenacity of Democrats who believed that health care should be a right, not a privilege. Every single Republican voted against it. For the last decade and a half, every person with a preexisting condition who was able to buy individual health coverage, every young person staying on their parents’ plan to age 26, and every family with serious medical needs who hasn’t hit a lifetime or annual cap on insurance coverage has benefited directly from the fortitude of the movement and the legislators who put the ACA into place. 

“Democrats left it all on the floor defending the ACA during Donald Trump’s first term—and despite the best efforts of far-right activists like Brad Schimel to overturn the transformative health care legislation, today the ACA stands strong. It’s the grit and gall of those Democrats who refused to bow down to special interests that Democrats need to channel the months and years ahead. The ACA is living proof that there is power in the fight to improve the lives of working families. As Wisconsin Democrats, we will continue to defend Wisconsinites’ health care from bad-faith actors like Brad Schimel and Donald Trump who want to rip Wisconsinites’ security and health care coverage away.

“There is still so much work to do to bring down the cost of health care and ensure that every American can see a doctor and fill a prescription when they get sick. But in the face of Republicans who want to move us backward, the ACA’s survival is a testament to the possibility of progress. Today, we renew our commitment to building a country where everyone gets the care they need.”

Here’s a reminder of how Brad Schimel tried—and failed—to rip away American’s health care coverage:

• Brad Schimel thinks the ACA is a “train wreck.” He called the law, which today has helped over 313,000 Wisconsinites get access to affordable health coverage, “a colossal failure.” 
   
• As attorney general, Schimel helped lead a lawsuit with Texas seeking to strike down the Affordable Care Act and rip health care away from hundreds of thousands of Wisconsinites.
   
• Brad Schimel’s lawsuit would have allowed insurance companies to deny coverage to Wisconsinites with pre-existing conditions according to Schimel’s solicitor general, who told a judge that “the entire ACA should fall.”
   
• After Brad Schimel lost reelection, a Texas judge ruled in favor of Schimel’s lawsuit to overturn the ACA. Schimel gloated about the lower court decision, saying he was “glad” he “got one more win” as attorney general.
   
• Though Wisconsin withdrew from Schimel’s lawsuit in 2019 under Attorney General Josh Kaul and Governor Tony Evers, Brad Schimel wasn’t done losing. Schimel was dealt a final blow in his fight to overturn the ACA in 2021 when the U.S. Supreme Court tossed Texas’ lawsuit that Schimel had joined which challenged the law. The final decision was 7-2.

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