AG Andy Beshear says he will fight to keep Affordable Care Act

Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear said Saturday will lead the fight to keep the Affordable Care Act.

Beshear said he will call a news conference Monday to give more details of his plans to ensure the massive healthcare bill survives a legal challenge. On Friday, a Texas federal judge ruled the Affordable Care Act unconstitutional. That ruling will be appealed.

“I will lead the fight to overturn Friday night’s ruling from Texas that could eliminate health care coverage for more than 1.3 million Kentuckians and which would cost our state more than $50 billion,” Beshear said in a tweet posted Saturday morning.

Beshear also said if the ACA is struck down: “Seniors would pay even more for prescriptions, and women could be charged more than men for their health insurance. I will not let this happen.”

Beshear, a Democrat, is running for governor. His father, former Gov. Steve Beshear, championed the ACA when he was governor and backed the expansion of Medicaid, a state and federal health care program for the poor and disabled.

Andy Beshear’s announcement about the ACA comes on the heels of his successful legal challenge of a Republican-led change to state pensions. On Thursday, the state Supreme Court unanimously struck down a controversial law that would have dramatically changed retirement benefits for public employees.

This story was originally published December 16, 2018 at 12:27 PM.