Patient and health advocacy groups representing millions of Americans with pre-existing conditions are applauding the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to hear arguments in the case of Texas v. United States this term. The case is the latest court challenge to the health care law known as the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The groups, which include the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Diabetes Association, American Heart Association, American Lung Association, and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society along with more than a dozen others, filed an amicus brief urging the Court’s swift action and citing the detrimental impacts and uncertainty patients would face were the case left at the lower court level.

Following is the groups’ joint statement:

“The Court’s decision today offers millions of patients who rely on the Affordable Care Act and its critical patient protections a timelier resolution to a case that threatens to significantly erode or eliminate their access to comprehensive health coverage. The current uncertainty also threatens to weaken the insurance markets that need clear, stable rules on which to price and offer coverage.

The connection between health coverage and health outcomes is clear. Without the protections of the ACA, patients, survivors, and their families could once again be denied coverage or charged so much that they would have to go without the lifesaving care that they need. Americans need to know what coverage options will be available as soon as possible and the Court’s decision to take up the case this term is critical to ensuring individuals can make informed choices about their health care needs.

“On behalf of all the patients we represent, we urge the Supreme Court to uphold the law and provide the clarity and certainty people and the health care system need.”

The groups who filed the amicus brief include the American Cancer Society, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Diabetes Association, American Heart Association, American Lung Association, Crohn's & Colitis Foundation, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Epilepsy Foundation, Global Healthy Living Foundation, Hemophilia Federation of America, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, March of Dimes, Muscular Dystrophy Association, National Alliance on Mental Illness, National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship, National Hemophilia Foundation, National Multiple Sclerosis Society, National Organization for Rare Disorders, The Kennedy Forum and United Way Worldwide.