The Supreme Court has declined to take up a challenge to Obamacare, punting the decision over the future of the healthcare law until far after Election Day.
The decision takes pressure off Republicans and the Trump administration to come up with a backup proposal to the law. The timeline removes the immediate threat that the whole law will be struck down, including its popular rules prohibiting insurers from turning away the sick, allowing President Trump to focus his attacks on Democratic proposals such as “Medicare for all.” It will also make it more difficult for Democrats to run on protecting Obamacare, a political strategy that has proved advantageous to them in the Trump era.
The case in question, Texas v. Azar, is the result of a lawsuit by Republican state officials who said that Obamacare must be struck down on the grounds that it lost a critical component when the 2017 GOP tax overhaul zeroed out its fine on the uninsured. Republicans, who had the support of the Trump administration, said the fine had been central to Obamacare and that the rest of its provisions would not work and should not stand without it.
Judge Reed O’Connor, who was appointed by President George W. Bush, agreed with the GOP states, but the case was appealed to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. On Dec. 18, the appellate judges ruled 2-1 that the health insurance mandate was unconstitutional but that the rest of the law needed further analysis by the lower courts to see whether some parts could be separated out and others could not.
ht/ c. steven tucker
when is the “shared responsibility” tax/fee/govt FU going to be removed from the 1040
Maybe this is a good thing. The parasites would have a major issue to rally around for the election if the decision went against them ahead of November.
Most likely not until the P.P.A.C.A (Obamacare) is repealed TeaParty Hobbit. That’s because the Individual mandate was not repealed. The penalty was simply zeroed out as of 1/1/2019 making it effectively useless thanks to President Trump signing the T.C.J.A. – Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA)
Why does everybody insist o care needs to be replaced? Just dump it. We were better off before it and will be better off now. Thrasher your time to create property reforms where needed.
Gee, THAT’s not a political decision…
Guess we can’t trust anyone anymore. Just scrap it.
I just went on medicare. I had to wait 65 years to get it and everyone else can wait, too.
^^^ and I had to pay for it for 50 years before I could go on it… ^^
Barry: What’s this?
Democrats: Just sign it!
We will call it Obamacare,,
Otay Panky,,,
you got it!
Maybe they also delayed it until after RBG’s replacement is confirmed?