Sat
Dec 15 2018
07:36 am
Fed judge in TX rules ACA unconstitutional
By: bizgrrl

Judge Reed O’Connor of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas issued the opinion in a lawsuit brought in February by Republican officials in 20 states.

“The court finds the individual mandate can no longer be fairly read as an exercise of Congress’s tax power and is still impermissible under the interstate commerce clause ― meaning the individual mandate is unconstitutional…. [T]he court finds the individual mandate is essential to and inseverable from the remainder of the ACA,” O’Connor wrote in his opinion.

The law’s guarantee of coverage for people regardless of their pre-existing conditions, financial assistance for private insurance, rules establishing a basic minimum set of benefits insurance policies must cover and more would vanish.

Expansion of Medicaid to low-income adults, also is stricken.

Eliminating the Affordable Care Act would increase the national uninsured rate by 50 percent and lead to more than 17 million people losing health coverage.

Republican officials from Tennessee as well as Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wisconsin filed the lawsuit.

"We expect this ruling will be appealed to the Supreme Court. Pending the appeal process, the law remains in place," [Sarah Huckabee] Sanders said in the statement.

It's sad so many Republicans in Southern states want to hurt their constituents. There is some hope for the South. North Carolina and Virginia did not get involved in taking away healthcare rights.

If you were so inclined, go ahead and sign up for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act, Healthcare.gov. They will not take away your insurance once you've been approved.

Topics:
fischbobber's picture

Socialized medicine

Submitted by fischbobber on Sat, 2018/12/15 - 10:12am.

Every single right winger I know who has railed against Obamacare at length has sent their wife to work at a civil service or school system job for access to , wait for it, its access to socialized medicine. Every single one. One guy is a fairly high up salesman in the fifth largest health insurance agency in the US. What's that tell you?

Knoxoasis's picture

"Sent their wife to work?"

Submitted by Knoxoasis on Sat, 2018/12/15 - 1:19pm.

"Sent their wife to work?" Really?

fischbobber's picture

Believe it or not.....

Submitted by fischbobber on Sat, 2018/12/15 - 3:00pm.

It still works that way in some (many?) marriages around here. It certainly seems easier than the equal partners route that many (most?) of us participate in. Ultimately, I think equal partners works better, but the learning curve can be a challenge.

I don't blame these guys by the way. If your kid's got a pre-existing condition, you'll be driven to do the right/smart thing, regardless of your line of bullshit.

R. Neal's picture

This ruling is one of the

Submitted by R. Neal on Sat, 2018/12/15 - 4:57pm.

This ruling is one of the most incoherent things I've ever heard of. Lots of contortions and questionable mental gymnastics to arrive at a predetermined, biased and overly broad conclusion. It will be overturned on appeal. Not even that Kavanaugh idiot can save it.

jbr's picture

Obama reassures those worried about Obamacare as Democrats bash

Submitted by jbr on Sat, 2018/12/15 - 9:19pm.

"As the decision makes its way through the courts, which will take months, if not years, the law remains in place and will likely stay that way," Obama said in a statement. "Open enrollment is proceeding as planned today. And a good way to show that you're tired of people trying to take away your health care is to go get covered!"

Midnight Saturday is the deadline to sign up for 2019 plans via HealthCare.org.

Obama reassures those worried about Obamacare as Democrats bash ruling

jbr's picture

... millions of people—27.4

Submitted by jbr on Sat, 2018/12/15 - 9:42pm.

... millions of people—27.4 million nonelderly individuals in 2017—remain without coverage.

Key Facts about the Uninsured Population

...one life saved for each 830 people gaining insurance

Significant decline in deaths after Massachusetts’ health reform

Statistically, avoidable deaths per year if currently uninsured people were to have health insurance ...
27.4 million / 830 = 33012

Alex_Falk's picture

listening & leading or “getting out in front”?

Submitted by Alex_Falk on Sun, 2018/12/16 - 8:23am.

what a difference
(link...)
a year makes (?)
(link...)

jbr's picture

Collins says Texas court ruling on ACA 'will be overturned

Submitted by jbr on Sun, 2018/12/16 - 1:44pm.

Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins predicted Sunday that a Texas judge's decision striking down Obamacare would likely be overturned.

Collins says Texas court ruling on ACA 'will be overturned on appeal'

Reed Charles O'Connor (born 1965) is a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas. He was nominated by George W. Bush in 2007 and is described as conservative.[1]

Reed O'Connor

Knoxoasis's picture

On that,I recall recently

Submitted by Knoxoasis on Mon, 2018/12/17 - 9:16am.
(in reply to jbr)

On that, I recall recently reading this.

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