The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Georgia joins new suit challengin­g Obamacare

- By Ariel Hart ahart@ajc.com

State Attorney General Chris Carr has entered Georgia as one of 20 states in a lawsuit led by Texas and Wisconsin alleging that the Affordable Care Act is unconstitu­tional.

The ACA, also known as Obamacare, has been challenged in court numerous times by states where Republican­s are the dominating party.

The highest-profile challenge failed in the U.S. Supreme Court when Chief Justice John Roberts sided with a majority saying the individual mandate requiring every American to have health insurance was in fact constituti­onal.

The mandate survived as a tax because Congress has the power to tax. But the lawsuit claims that now that the GOPled Congress has repealed the part of the individual mandate that threatens a tax penalty for not carrying insurance, the law is unconstitu­tional.

The lawsuit, filed in the federal court in the Northern District of Texas, calls the ACA an “irrational regime” forced on states and citizens.

Carr, who was appointed by Gov. Nathan Deal and is now campaignin­g as a Republican for the office for the first time, said in a statement, “Our office has pushed back against this overt form of federal overreach from the beginning.”

It is unclear what the immediate effects of repealing the individual mandate will be in Georgia.

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