US SC urged to reconsider Obamacare

Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson has urged the US Supreme Court to reconsider a lower court's decision that challenged the popular healthcare law signed by former President Barack Obama.

On Friday Ferguson said the Affordable Care Act (ACA), or better known as Obamacare, which Obama signed into law in March 2010, was much needed by Washington residents, reports Xinhua news agency.

"Without the ACA, hundreds of thousands of hardworking Washingtonians will lose access to affordable health care coverage, and many more will face devastating cost increases," Ferguson said.

More than 800,000 Washington residents depend on the ACA for their healthcare, according to his office.

Ferguson said that the rate of people who had no medical insurance has dropped by 60 per cent in Washington since the ACA took effect about 10 years ago.

He warned that if the ACA is eliminated, more than 600,000 people enrolled in the ACA's Medicaid programme would lose coverage, and patients would "be subject to annual and lifetime limits to their health benefits".

Washington joined a coalition of 20 Democratic-led states to seek review of a decision in the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which ruled part of the law was unconstitutional, without final words on whether its remaining provisions were valid or not.

The lawsuit went back to the Northern District of Texas, where Republican-led states challenged the law and wanted to have it repealed.