Government seeks repeal of health law
NEW ORLEANS — The Trump administration joined a coalition of Republican-led states Wednesday in asking a federal appeals court to entirely overturn former President Barack Obama’s health care law.
Congress rendered the Affordable Care Act unconstitutional in 2017 by eliminating an unpopular tax penalty for not having insurance, the administration and GOP states told the court.
The Obamacare opponents hope to persuade the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans to uphold U.S. District Court Judge Reed O’connor’s ruling late last year striking down the law.
The Trump administration acknowledged it had changed positions in the case. The administration said Wednesday it had reconsidered after O’connor’s ruling.
“The remaining provisions of the ACA should not be allowed to remain in effect — again, even if the government might support some individual positions as a policy matter,” the administration wrote in its court filing.
O’connor’s ruling last December came in a case filed by Texas and a coalition of Republican-led states. He said that without a tax penalty, the law’s requirement that most Americans have insurance is unconstitutional. Democratic attorneys general, led by California’s Xavier Becerra, and the U.S. House of Representatives have appealed.
The appeals court is expected to hold oral arguments in July. The effects of the lower court ruling have been on hold pending appeals.
The last word on any decision to strike down the law almost certainly will come from the Supreme Court.