A Texas judge has ruled the entire ACA unconstitutional. If upheld, this would throw out not only the law’s pre-existing condition protections, but also everything else — premium subsidies, expanded Medicaid, preventive services, and much more.
Republic state attorneys general argued that since the individual mandate has been repealed, the mandate itself is now unconstitutional because there is no tax associated with it. And they say the rest of the law cannot be separated from the mandate.
The Trump administration has agreed with the Republican state attorneys general that the individual mandate is unconstitutional. But they have argued that the whole law shouldn’t be thrown out, just its pre-existing condition protections.
Correction: The Republican attorneys general argument is that since the individual mandate PENALTY has been set to zero, the mandate itself is unconstitutional, as is the rest of the ACA.
We just had an election where pre-existing condition protections were a huge issue. If this Texas decision is upheld by higher courts, members of Congress may have an opportunity to back up what they said on the campaign trail.
For now, the ACA is still in effect, so this court case should certainly not discourage people from signing up for insurance. December 15 is the deadline in most states.
Definitely follow @nicholas_bagley for expert legal opinion on this ACA case.
If this Texas decision on the ACA is upheld, it would throw the individual insurance market and the whole health care system into complete chaos. But, the case still has a long legal road to travel before that’s an immediate threat.
It is curious that this court decision is being issued the night before the last day of ACA open enrollment, which is expected to be the biggest day of signups.
With the Trump administration not defending the ACA in this lawsuit, Democratic state attorneys general have intervened and will no doubt appeal the decision.
