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Health See other Health Articles Title: Obamacare Thrown Out by Judge, Raising Insurance Uncertainty Obamacare Thrown Out by Judge, Raising Insurance Uncertainty (AP) Friday, 14 December 2018 09:39 PM Obamacare was struck down by a Texas federal judge in a ruling that casts uncertainty on insurance coverage for millions of U.S. residents. The decision Friday finding the Affordable Care Act unconstitutional comes just before the end of a six-week open enrollment period for the program in 2019 and underscores a divide between Republicans who have long sought to invalidate the law and Democrats who fought to keep it in place. U.S. District Judge Reed OConnor in Fort Worth agreed with a coalition of Republican states led by Texas that he had to eviscerate the Affordable Care Act, the signature health-care overhaul by President Barack Obama, after Congress last year zeroed out a key provision -- the tax penalty for not complying with the requirement to buy insurance. The decision is almost certain to be appealed all the way to the Supreme Court. Todays ruling is an assault on 133 million Americans with preexisting conditions, on the 20 million Americans who rely on the ACAs consumer protections for health care, and on Americas faithful progress toward affordable health care for all Americans, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said in a statement. A spokeswoman for Becerra said an appeal will be filed before Jan. 1. Texas and an alliance of 19 states argued to the judge that theyve been harmed by an increase in the number of people on state-supported insurance rolls. They claimed that when Congress repealed the tax penalty last year, it eliminated the U.S. Supreme Courts rationale for finding the ACA constitutional in 2012. The Texas judge agreed. The remainder of the ACA is non-severable from the individual mandate, meaning that the Act must be invalidated in whole, OConnor wrote. California and Democratic officials in 14 states, along with the District of Columbia, won permission to defend ACA in the Fort Worth case when the Trump administration sided with the states seeking to dismantle it. They contended that overturning the law would throw millions off health insurance rolls by reversing Medicaid expansion, ending tax credits that help people and empowering insurers to once again deny coverage based on pre-existing conditions. Axing the Individual Mandate, Obamacares Hated Heart: QuickTake Justice Department lawyers urged the judge to strike down the individual mandate and provisions requiring insurance companies to cover individuals with preexisting health conditions and charge them the same premiums as healthy individuals. They argued the judge should spare the rest of the law, which includes Medicaid expansion, the employer mandate, health exchanges, premium subsidies and federal health-care reimbursement rates for hospitals. Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh launched a counterattack Sept. 13 to save Obamacare, seeking a judgment that the Affordable Care Act is constitutional and a court order barring the U.S. from taking any action inconsistent with that conclusion. Frosh sued then-U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the federal departments of Justice and Health and Human Services. The Texas case is Texas v. U.S., 4:18-cv-00167-0, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas (Fort Worth). Froshs case is State of Maryland v. United States, 1:18-cv-02849, U.S. District Court, District of Maryland (Greenbelt). Poster Comment: I wonder what John Roberts thinks of this since his vote was a deciding factor in the Supreme Court in its original passage. Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top Page Up Full Thread Page Down Bottom/Latest Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 1.
#1. To: BTP Holdings (#0)
When Roberts declare ACA a tax, that made it unconstitutional, by the mandate stated in the US Constitution. Bills od attainment must start in the House
#2. To: Darkwing (#1)
I think you meant Bills of Attainder. These are banned by the U.S. Constitution. ;)
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