CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The U.S. Supreme Court will consider the legal challenge to former President Barack Obama’s health care law during its next term to begin in October, although a ruling will likely come after this year’s election.
The court announced Monday it will hear an appeal from a coalition of Democratic-led states and Washington, D.C., as well as the U.S. House of Representatives on a federal appeals court ruling which struck down the statute’s individual mandate requiring people to purchase health insurance.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in December the provision is unconstitutional in light of Congress zeroing out the penalty in the 2017 tax law. The appellate judges also asked a lower court that previously struck down the entire law to determine which parts of “Obamacare” stand separate from the individual mandate.
Texas and 17 other Republican states — including West Virginia — back the lawsuit, and the Trump administration supports the effort to end the Affordable Care Act.
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, who is leading the Democratic states, applauded the Supreme Court’s decision.
“Our health is the most precious resource we have — we should all be working to improve healthcare, instead of ripping coverage away from those most in need,” he said in a statement.
“As Texas and the Trump administration fight to disrupt our healthcare system and the coverage that millions of people rely upon, we look forward to making our case in defense of the ACA. American lives depend upon it.”
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton issued a statement Monday afternoon.
“Now that the individual mandate can no longer be preserved as a tax, the constitutionality of Obamacare must be determined,” he said.
“The Fifth Circuit correctly applied existing U.S. Supreme Court precedent when they ruled that the individual mandate itself was unconstitutional. Without the individual mandate, the entire law becomes unsupportable. The federal government cannot order private citizens to purchase subpar insurance that they don’t want, and I look forward to finally settling the matter before the U.S. Supreme Court.”
Two concerns among critics of the lawsuit are the effects on individuals with pre-existing conditions and people with coverage through states’ expansion of Medicaid. A 2018 West Virginia University report states 719,000 West Virginians have a pre-existing condition, and the state Department of Health and Human Resources notes more than 161,000 people are enrolled in Medicaid expansion.
U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., has attempted to get the Senate Legal Counsel involved in the lawsuit. He and fellow Senate Democrats sent President Donald Trump a letter last month regarding funding the Justice Department’s involvement in the matter.
“I hope that the Supreme Court’s decision to hear the case will mean a definitive answer after the years of turmoil for those West Virginians and Americans living with preexisting conditions,” he said Monday in a statement. “These Americans live in fear of losing their healthcare because of the Administration’s continuous attacks on the law of the land, the ACA, which protects their health coverage.”
Manchin also asked West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey to withdraw the state from the lawsuit.
“Time and time again, I have stated that the ACA is not perfect, but we simply cannot throw the baby out with the bath water. I am outraged by the Administration’s efforts to do so while touting their support for people with preexisting conditions. It is unconscionable,” the senator added.
Morrisey’s office did not return an interview request.
The Democratic states and the House also asked the Supreme Court to consider the matter before the court’s term ends in June; justices denied the request in late January.