On June 17, 2010, attorneys from the Center for American Progress, the Federal Rights Project of the National Senior Citizens Law Center, and PCT Law Group, PLLC, filed an Amicus Brief in support of the federal government’s Motion to Dismiss in the matter of Commonwealth of Virginia, Ex Rel. Kenneth T. Cuccinelli, II v. Sebelius.
This case, currently before the U.S. District Court of Eastern Virginia, involves the State of Virginia’s challenge to the recently enacted health reform law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The Amicus Brief, which argues in favor of the new health care law, specifically addresses why the minimum coverage provisions of the law are indispensable to the long-sought prohibition on the exclusion of persons with preexisting conditions from health insurance plans. The Brief not only explains the crucial connection between the provisions, but also illustrates the dangers of attempting such a ban without such a requirement, as evidenced by multiple health reform failures on the state level.
The Brief was filed on behalf of seventeen non-profit organizations who advocate and educate for populations with a wide variety of health risks. The organizations represented in 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, the Family Violence Prevention Fund, Friends of Cancer Research, Mental Health America, National Breast Cancer Coalition, the National Organization for Rare Disorders, the National Partnership for Women & Families, National Patient Advocate Foundation, the National Senior Citizens Law Center, the National Women’s Law Center, the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance, Raising Women’s Voices for the Health Care We Need, and United Cerebral Palsy.
Click here to read the brief: Amicus Brief in Support of Health Reform
