▪ A coalition of Democratic attorneys general defending the Affordable Care Act

against a Republican state challenge has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review an appeals court decision that struck down the requirement that most Americans buy health insurance. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Dec. 18 affirmed a Texas district judge’s ruling that the so-called individual mandate is unconstitutional and remanded the case back to the lower court to determine what other provisions of the healthcare law must fall with it. In its Supreme Court petition filed on Jan. 3, the Democratic coalition urged the court to immediately review the judgment in Texas v. United States because “remand proceedings contemplated by the panel majority would only prolong and exacerbate the uncertainty already caused by this litigation.”