Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Biden Administration Appeals To Supreme Court To Uphold ACA
Politico: Biden Admin Asks SCOTUS To Uphold Obamacare, Reversing Trump Support For Lawsuit
The Biden administration is withdrawing the federal government's support for a challenge to Obamacare, telling the Supreme Court that the law should remain on the books. The move by the Justice Department follows speculation on whether Biden would try to withdraw from the high-profile red state lawsuit — fully supported by the Trump administration — to strike down the entirety of the Affordable Care Act. (Luthi, 2/10)
NBC News: Justice Department Switches Sides, Urging Supreme Court To Uphold Obamacare
“Following the change in administration, the Department of Justice has reconsidered the government's position in these cases,” the department said in a letter to the court. Texas and 17 other Republican-dominated states urged the court in November to rule that Obamacare's requirement for nearly all Americans to obtain health insurance or pay an income tax penalty — known as the individual mandate — is unconstitutional. For that reason, they said, the entire law must be scrapped. (Williams, 2/10)
Modern Healthcare: Biden Administration Supports ACA At Supreme Court, Drops Trump-Era Challenge
During November oral arguments, the justices appeared unlikely to strike down the ACA in its entirety. All nine justices asked whether the GOP-led states or individuals they represented had standing to challenge the law, a pre-requisite for the court to eliminate either the individual mandate or all of Obamacare. Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh also indicated they would likely favor severing the challenged individual mandate from the rest of the law. Roberts expressed skepticism at the GOP states' argument that legislative findings related to the ACA constituted an inseverability clause. (2/10)
Also —
The Hill: Health Care Industry Groups Back ObamaCare Reforms Proposed By Democrats
Powerful interests in the health care industry united behind a set of proposals Wednesday they argued would achieve universal insurance coverage, an apparent endorsement of similar plans offered by congressional Democrats and President Biden to build on the Affordable Care Act (ACA). (Hellmann, 2/10)
