COURT TO RULE ON ACA - A ruling on a Texas-led lawsuit challenging the Affordable Care Act is imminent as open enrollment starts Friday for health insurance through a market created by the legislation. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals is expected to issue a ruling this fall on the Republican-led challenge to the law.
State’s Attorneys General in Texas and in other Republican-led states ---including Arkansas and Louisiana --argue that when Congress zeroed out the tax penalty in 2017 for not having health insurance, the entire law became invalid. That tax penalty – also known as the individual mandate – is a big part of the law that now isn’t being enforced. Stephen Vladeck – a law professor at UT Austin – explained to Texas Public Radio KUT --the stakes of this lawsuit largely depend on whether the courts decide to invalidate just the individual mandate.
Vladeck said “...if the courts – either the Fifth Circuit or the Supreme Court on appeal – throws out the entire statute, I think those consequences would be shocking and mind-boggling and would affect just about all of us in at least some respect, mostly in ways that are bad."
According to Vladeck: the federal health care law also includes provisions for treatment for opioid abuse and HIV. A lower court in Texas sided with plaintiffs in this case, but didn’t issue an order striking down the law. That means, there will be no immediate effect if the Fifth Circuit upholds the lower court ruling. And if that happens, this case will likely go before the U.S. Supreme Court.
