By Sabrina Corlette and Emily Curran

The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals is expected to rule any day now on Texas v. U.S., a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). A decision in favor of the plaintiffs would invalidate every provision of the 2010 law, leading as many as 20 million people to lose their coverage, while millions more could face insurance company denials, premium surcharges, or high out-of-pocket costs because of their health status.

In an attempt to blunt the potential fallout, several states have enacted legislation to ensure that the ACA protections become part of state law. In their latest post for the Commonwealth Fund’s To the Point Blog, CHIR’s Sabrina Corlette and Emily Curran assess states’ ability to fully protect residents with pre-existing health conditions and provide an update on recent state activity to respond to the threat of this litigation. Read the full post here.