Would Repealing the ACA Violate International Law?

By DAVID INTROCASO and JASON CHUNG Barely one month after a stinging and stunning legislative defeat, President Donald Trump has committed to revising the AHCA and potentially resubmitting it for Congressional approval. In addition to Democrats and widespread popular opinion against ACA repeal, the AHCA may face another obstacle – international law. This week the Washington Post’s Dana Milbank reported that the United Nations Office of the High Commission on Human Rights forwarded a four-page letter to the Acting Secretary of State, Thomas A. Shannon, to express the Commission’s “serious concern” that the US was in danger of violating its obligations under international law if the U.S. ratified legislation repealing the ACA. The letter authored by Dainius Puras, a Lithuanian with the somewhat remarkable title of UN Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, argues that repealing core elements of the ACA would negatively impact almost 30 million Americans’ right to the “highest attainable standards of physical and mental health”, particularly those in moderate and low income brackets and those suffering from poverty or social exclusion. While we in the United States debate whether health care is a right or a privilege, Puras cites U.S. international treaty obligations as authorities for why health care is a right. In particular, he argues that Article 25 of the Universa...
Source: The Health Care Blog - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: OP-ED Uncategorized ACA AHCA International Law Trump UDHR UN General Assembly Source Type: blogs