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In case you missed it yesterday -- say, because you were watching the impeachment vote -- a federal appeals court ruled that the ACA's individual mandate is unconstitutional.

What happens next is... a bit complicated. (1) huffpost.com/entry/court-ru…
As you'll remember, this lawsuit claims Trump & the Republican Congress introduced a fatal constitutional flaw into the 2010 health care law when they reduced the "individual mandate" penalty to zero.

The claim is absurd. (2)

huffpost.com/entry/obamacar…
In fact, the case is so bonkers that even architects of previous ACA lawsuits think it should fail. (3)

huffpost.com/entry/conserva…
But a year ago it prevailed in district court when a conservative judge ruled in its favor.

He agreed with the plaintiffs, ruling that if this one part (the mandate) goes then the rest of the law has to go too. (4)

huffpost.com/entry/judge-ru…
A Circuit Court panel heard the case on appeal and ruled, two (GOP appointed) judges to one (Democratic appointed) judge, that it agrees about the mandate. (5) huffpost.com/entry/obamacar…
But it also said that parts of the law might be able to survive, so it sent the case back to the district judge to think about things a little more carefully. (6)

huffpost.com/entry/court-ru…
The Circuit Court didn't give overly specific instructions to and there's some debate about whether they were hinting about how much of the law to leave in place.

@Nicholas_Bagley says...

@RMFifthCircuit says...


(7)
Regardless, there's no way to know what the judge will do or how long it will take -- or whether he'll get a chance.

State officials defending the ACA (bc, remember, Trump won't) say they're appealing directly to the Supreme Court, in order to get a definitive ruling. (8)
So there's lots of uncertainty. Here's what we know for sure:

- The ACA lost in court yesterday because of a GOP lawsuit virtually every respectable legal expert thinks is a farce.

- If the case ultimately prevails, the effects would be devastating. (9) huffpost.com/entry/court-ru…
And here's a fuller take from @nicholas_bagley (10) theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/…
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Jonathan Cohn
@CitizenCohn
1. Warren has just put out her plan on the finances of M4A. @Robillard has the story (with a small assist from me). huffpost.com/entry/elizabet…
2. Remember, with M4A, health care spending shifts from individuals and employers (no more premiums & copays) over to the federal government.

Key questions:

(a) What does new program cost?
(b) Where does gov't get the money?
(c) Who comes out ahead, who doesn't?
3. On (a) -- how much it costs -- Warren envisions a program that would require $20T in new fed spending over the next decade. A lot of money, though substantially less than some other estimates have suggested M4A would require.
Read 14 tweets
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Jonathan Cohn
@CitizenCohn
Case for this @BernieSanders idea is especially strong given (a) surprise billing issues (b) aggressive collection efforts by hospitals cnn.com/2019/08/31/pol…
The aggressive collection tactics and underlying debt were subjects of now-famous investigative reporting by the great @WSJ reporter Lucette Lagnado, who died just a few months ago wsj.com/articles/SB104…
Many of us wrote about similar episodes later on. One of the craziest (and most telling) stories I ever encountered was about a Catholic non-profit hospital whose lawyers took a patient to court over her unpaid bills. The patient was a former nun. chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-20…
Read 4 tweets
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Jonathan Cohn
@CitizenCohn
It’s ⁦@jrovner⁩ in her element — talking health policy at ⁦@UMich⁩

Already got a “go blue”

#IHPI19
@jrovner @UMich .@jrovner remembers when health care was "not just bipartisan, but nonpartisan."

Debate was heavily technical, lots of consensus, etc. Changed in early 1990s, she says.

Clinton's election cemented it as a partisan issue and it hasn't changed since. #ihpi19
@jrovner @UMich Glimpses of bipartisanship on prescription drugs and surprise bills, but @jrovner warns that either would mean overcoming stiff industry opposition. #ihpi19
Read 11 tweets

Related threads

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Larry Levitt
@larry_levitt
A U.S. appeals court has ruled that the ACA's individual mandate is unconstitutional, but is sending the case back to the district court for an analysis of how much of the rest of the ACA should be thrown out. Pre-existing condition protections would seem particularly at risk.
The district court judge who is getting the ACA case back from the appeals court for further analysis is the same judge who ruled that the entire ACA should be thrown out.
President Trump is backing the lawsuit to throw out the ACA, which is now unlikely to be decided by November 2020. So this election may once again be a referendum on the future of the ACA.
Read 9 tweets
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Jewhadi™
@JewhadiTM
Court finds Colorado electors were wrongly forced to vote for Hillary Clinton in 2016 canoncitydailyrecord.com/2019/08/21/col…
federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that three presidential electors from Colorado were unconstitutionally forced to cast their Electoral College votes for Hillary Clinton in 2016.
The 2-1 opinion from the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is a victory for so-called “faithless electors,” those who cast an Electoral College vote for a presidential candidate that is not the candidate chosen by a majority of voters in their state.
Read 3 tweets
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Little Lobbyists
@LittleLobbyists
Friends, tomorrow a Federal appeals court will hear arguments on the Administration's lawsuit to throw out the entire #ACA -- including #PreExistingCondition protections.

A thread on what this means. 1/ usatoday.com/story/news/pol…
The fight to #SavetheACA is why Little Lobbyists exists. #ACA protections allow our kids to survive and thrive: #PreExistingConditions & essential care covered, no arbitrary annual/lifetime caps on care. 2/ littlelobbyists.org/our-stories
So when this Administration and the GOP in Congress began attacking the #ACA over two years ago, families organized together to fight back, to stand up for our kids and millions of others who would be devastated by these attacks. 3/ vox.com/policy-and-pol…
Read 7 tweets
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Charles Gaba ✡️
@charles_gaba
📣 NEW: How much of a Risk Corridor rebate check might YOU receive? (thread)

acasignups.net/19/06/26/fun-r…
When the #ACA was passed, the Obama Admin & Congressional Dems knew that things would be pretty rocky the first few years, so they included several market stabilization programs to try and minimize the insanity. One of these was called “Risk Corridors”. 2/
The Risk Corridor program sounds confusing, but the simple version is this: For the first 3 years, insurance companies which did unusually WELL had to pay a portion of their profits into a central kitty… 3/
Read 30 tweets
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Peter Morley
@morethanmySLE
🚨🚨The lies about the Trump Administration wanting to #ProtectOurCare stop TODAY! The dismantling of the law of the land has been going on since day 1 of this Administration to remove protections for 130M w/#PreExistingConditions

(THREAD) 1/
After failing to repeal the #ACA in Congress in 2017, in 2/2018, 18 @GOP AG's & 2 GOP Governors Filed a Lawsuit to Repeal the #ACA in the U.S. Northern District of TX. 2/
.@GOP officials claim since #ACA’s individual mandate fine was repealed in 2017 tax law, the mandate can no longer be considered a “tax.” b/c of this change, they argue the mandate is now unconstitutional & the entire ACA must be struck down.

These are their names. 3/
Read 13 tweets
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Peter Morley
@morethanmySLE
Feb. 2018, 18 @GOP AG's & 2 GOP Governors Filed a Lawsuit to Repeal the #ACA in the U.S. Northern District of TX

This lawsuit is currently being heard. This is what it means to YOUR healthcare if Kavanaugh is confirmed. #ProtectOurCare #WhatsAtStake (THREAD)1/15
These are the Republican state attorneys general and governors from 20 states that filed the lawsuit in February 2018 in the U.S. Northern District of Texas.

#ProtectOurCare #WhatsAtStake 2/15
In June of 2018, the Trump Administration said it would not defend the #ACA and actually AGREED in part with the plaintiffs, arguing that protections for people with #PreExistingConditions should be overturned.

#ProtectOurCare #WhatsAtStake 3/15
Read 15 tweets

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