Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Judges Rule Individual Mandate Is Unconstitutional, But Kick Case Back To Lower Court For Review Of Severability
The New York Times: Obamacare Insurance Mandate Is Struck Down By Federal Appeals Court
A federal appeals court on Wednesday struck down a central provision of the Affordable Care Act, ruling that the requirement that people have health insurance was unconstitutional. But the appeals panel did not invalidate the rest of the law, instead sending the case back to a federal district judge in Texas to “conduct a more searching inquiry” into which of the law’s many parts could survive without the mandate. (Goodnough, 12/18)
The Associated Press: Court: Part Of 'Obamacare' Invalid, More Review Needed
The 2-1 ruling handed down by a panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans means the ultimate fate of the rest of the Affordable Care Act including such popular provisions as protections for those with pre-existing conditions, Medicaid expansion and the ability for children under the age of 26 to remain on their parents' insurance remains unclear. The panel agreed with Texas-based U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor’s 2018 finding that the law’s insurance requirement, the so-called “individual mandate,” was rendered unconstitutional when Congress, in 2017, reduced a tax on people without insurance to zero. (Santana, Sherman and Alonso-Zaldivar, 12/18)
The Wall Street Journal: Court Rules Affordable Care Act’s Individual Insurance Mandate Is Unconstitutional
The appeals court said the 2017 change meant there was no longer a valid basis for upholding the mandate. “There is no other constitutional provision that justifies this exercise of congressional power,” Judge Jennifer Elrod, a George W. Bush appointee, wrote in the majority opinion, which was joined by Judge Kurt Engelhardt, a Trump appointee. (Kendall and Armour, 12/18)
Reuters: U.S. Appeals Court Sidesteps Major Obamacare Ruling
The court, however, avoided answering the key question of whether the rest of the law can remain in place or must be struck down, instead sending the case back to a district court judge for further analysis. That means the fate of the signature domestic achievement of Democratic former President Barack Obama remains in limbo. Writing for the majority, Judge Jennifer Walker Elrod said that Texas-based U.S. District Court Judge Reed O'Connor must "employ a finer-toothed comb" to determine if the entire law must be struck down. (Hurley, 12/18)
New Orleans Times-Picayune: Federal Court Finds Obamacare Mandate Unconstitutional, But Rest Of Law Sent Back To Texas Judge
In 2012, Chief Justice John Roberts forged a compromise with the four liberal Supreme Court justices to uphold Obamacare by calling it a tax. But 5th Circuit Judge Jennifer Walker Elrod, writing for the majority, said the individual mandate could no longer be justified after a Republican-controlled Congress in 2017 got rid of the financial penalty that once came with it. (Sledge, 12/18)
Fox News: Federal Appeals Court Strikes Down ObamaCare Rule, Setting Up Supreme Court Showdown
Dissenting Judge Carolyn Dineen King said her colleagues were prolonging “uncertainty over the future of the healthcare sector.” King said she would have found the mandate constitutional, although unenforceable, and left the rest of the law alone. (Mears and Phillips, 12/18)
The Washington Post: Appeals Court Rules ACA’s Individual Mandate Unconstitutional; Lower Court To Decide Whether Rest Of Law Can Stand Without It
The 5th Circuit decision almost certainly will bring the health-care law before the Supreme Court for a third time, and California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, leading a coalition of his Democratic counterparts fighting to preserve the law, said Wednesday night that he was prepared to ask the high court to take the case before the lower court rules again. But by sending a thorny legal question back to the Texas jurist who already has held the law unconstitutional, the judges may effectively slow the progress of the case, so that the high court does not take it during its current term and decide it before the November elections. (Goldstein, 12/18)
The Hill: California To Appeal ObamaCare Ruling To Supreme Court
"The best way to get certainty is to go to the Supreme Court," said Becerra, who is leading a coalition of Democratic attorneys general in defending the law. "We will move swiftly to challenge this decision and seek certification because this could mean the difference between life and death for so many Americans and their families," he added. (Hellmann, 12/18)
Kaiser Health News: Federal Appeals Court Strikes Down Portion Of Obamacare
Hanging in the balance is not only health coverage for the roughly 20 million Americans directly served by the ACA, but also hundreds of millions more whose health care and coverage have been affected by the thousands of changes enacted in the law. Those include provisions as wide-ranging as changes in Medicare drug copayments, requirements for calorie counts on menus, a pathway for approval of generic copies of expensive biologic drugs and, perhaps most important politically, protections for people with preexisting conditions. (Rovner, 12/18)
CNN: Appeals Court Says Obamacare Individual Mandate Unconstitutional And Sends Law Back To Lower Court
Invalidating the law in only the 18 states in the lawsuit would throw the nation's health care system into chaos and deepen the inequality of access to health care that already exists. Also, several provisions -- such as making it easier to obtain lower-cost versions of certain complex drugs, changing Medicare payment rates or increasing certain taxes on wealthier Americans -- would be difficult to divide up by state. The court acknowledged that when the lower court reviews its opinion it might once again hold that the entire law must fall. But the judges urged limits, writing: "It is no small thing for unelected, life-tenured judges to declare duly enacted legislation passed by the elected representatives of the American people unconstitutional." (Berman, Biskupic, Luhby and De Vogue, 12/18)
CNN: READ: Appeals Court Ruling On Affordable Care Act
The 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals has found the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate unconstitutional, but did not invalidate the entire law. Read the opinion here. (12/18)
