Obamacare In Greater Judicial Jeopardy After Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Death

The Washington Post: ACA And The Supreme Court: How Ruth Bader Ginsburg's Death Could Jeopardize Affordable Care Act 
The death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg injects fresh uncertainty into the future of the Affordable Care Act, as the Supreme Court prepares to consider anew the constitutionality of the law that has reshaped the United States’ health-care system in the past decade. As the senior member of the court’s liberal bloc, Ginsburg was a reliable vote to uphold the ACA in the past and had been expected to do so when the high court reviews the law a third time in its coming term. The sudden shift in the court’s composition provides the latest lawsuit seeking to get rid of the health-care law a greater opportunity, though not a certain victory, while mobilizing Democratic and swing voters focused on the issue in the upcoming elections, according to legal scholars and political analysts. (Goldstein, 9/19)

Vox: What Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Death Means For Supreme Court’s Obamacare Case 
The Affordable Care Act is coming before the Supreme Court in November — and this time, with no Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg there to protect the law. Ginsburg, who was appointed to the Court by President Bill Clinton in 1993 and served until her death on Friday, voted to uphold the law in 2012. Along with the three other liberal justices and Chief Justice John Roberts, she saved Obamacare then from a legal challenge that would have invalidated the law entirely. (Scott, 9/18)

The Wall Street Journal: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Death Puts Spotlight On Affordable Care Act 
The death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is a devastating blow to the Supreme Court’s liberal minority, pushing out of reach—should President Trump succeed in gaining confirmation of another nominee—the occasional victory it claimed from a right-moving court by finding common ground with a single conservative justice. It still takes five votes on an eight-member court to issue a decision, so if one justice on the right joins those on the left to produce a tie, the lower-court decision on review remains in force, but produces no nationwide precedent. (Bravin, 9/19)

Vice: Ruth Bader Ginsburg's Death Puts Obamacare In Jeopardy
The death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has increased the chances that Obamacare could be struck down. A challenge to the landmark healthcare law is scheduled to come before the court on Nov. 10, just days after Election Day. With Ginsburg on the court, there had been five justices who’d protected the law against its earlier challenge in 2012 and appeared likely to protect it against the latest attack from Republican officials. But her Friday death has turned Obamacare’s survival from a seeming sure thing to an open question. (Joseph, 9/19)

BuzzFeed: Obamacare Is In Danger After Ruth Bader Ginsburg's Death
The fight to replace the late justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court could determine whether Obamacare is repealed next year, potentially stripping tens of millions of people of their health insurance during a global pandemic. After Republicans in Congress failed to repeal the Affordable Care Act in 2017, 20 red state attorneys general led by Texas launched a lawsuit to have the law overturned by the courts. The case is scheduled to go before the Supreme Court for oral arguments on November 10, one week after the election. A decision could come in the first half of 2021. (McLeod, 9/19)

NBC News: Obamacare May Be Doomed If 8-Member Supreme Court Presses Ahead With Fall Cases
Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death, ending one of the most remarkable careers in American legal history, leaves the Supreme Court under a cloud of uncertainty as it prepares to begin its new term in two weeks, with questions about who will put her successor on the court, when will that happen and how will it affect some of the major cases on the docket — including the fate of Obamacare. Ginsburg's death on Friday leaves eight justices on the court, which raises the prospect of 4-4 tie votes. After Justice Antonin Scalia died in 2016, the remaining justices ended up deferring contentious issues or deciding cases without sweeping rulings. But his death left an even number of generally liberal and conservative votes. (Williams, 9/19)

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Axios: Pelosi: Trump Wants To "Crush" Affordable Care Act With Ginsburg Replacement 
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on ABC's "This Week" on Sunday that President Trump is rushing to replace the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg because he "wants to crush the Affordable Care Act." Why it matters: Pelosi wants to steer the conversation around the potential Ginsburg replacement to health care, which polls show is a top issue for voters, especially amid the coronavirus pandemic. The Trump administration has urged the courts to strike down the law, and with it, protections for millions with pre-existing conditions. (9/20)

Healthcare Dive: 'People Should Worry:' ACA In Limbo After Bader Ginsburg's Passing  
In less than two months, the Supreme Court is set to hear the case that could overturn the Affordable Care Act — without Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the bench, fanning anxieties the landmark law is in greater jeopardy due to her passing. "People should worry," Nicholas Bagley, a health law expert and professor at the University of Michigan, said. The death of the liberal justice on Friday at the age of 87 means that of the nine justices, there are now only three appointed by Democratic presidents instead of four. (Liss, 9/19)

Health Affairs: After Justice Ginsburg’s Loss, What A New Court Could Mean For The ACA 
The loss of Justice Ginsburg has led to a flood of questions about what comes next for the Court and the country. Who will be nominated to fill her seat? Will a new justice be seated by the time the Court is scheduled to hear California v. Texas on November 10? How does the new makeup of the Court, without Justice Ginsburg, affect the potential outcome in Texas? And what is the role of Congress in addressing the lawsuit? This post grapples with the answers to some of these questions and what they mean for the fate of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). (Keith, 9/20)

Kaiser Health News: Without Ginsburg, Judicial Threats To The ACA, Reproductive Rights Heighten 
On Feb. 27, 2018, I got an email from the Heritage Foundation, alerting me to a news conference that afternoon held by Republican attorneys general of Texas and other states. It was referred to only as a “discussion about the Affordable Care Act lawsuit. ”I sent the following note to my editor: “I’m off to the Hill anyway. I could stop by this. You never know what it might morph into.” Few people took that case very seriously — barely a handful of reporters attended the news conference. But it has now “morphed into” the latest existential threat against the Affordable Care Act, scheduled for oral arguments at the Supreme Court a week after the general election in November. And with the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Friday, that case could well morph into the threat that brings down the law in its entirety. (Rovner, 9/21)