CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Petitioners in the legal challenge to former President Barack Obama’s health care law filed briefs to the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday defending the statute as President Donald Trump stands by his administration’s support for overturning the law.
Justices on the nation’s highest court will hear arguments in its next term about the statute’s legal standing. The proceedings come after a federal appeals court ruled in December the individual mandate is unconstitutional but left the rest of the law to a lower court that previously struck the entire law down.
The U.S. House of Representatives and a coalition of Democrat-led states said in separate briefs that “Obamacare” can exist without such financial consequence.
“In 2017, Congress made the deliberate choice to render the provision of no practical effect by eliminating any consequence for failing to maintain insurance, while at the same time leaving the rest of the law untouched — after deliberating about and ultimately rejecting repeal of the entire ACA,” the Democrat-controlled House said, referencing congressional Republicans’ attempts over the last decade to scrap the law.
Congress reduced the individual mandate to zero as part of the 2017 tax law. Eighteen Republican states — including West Virginia — argue the individual mandate is essential for the law to exist, and Congress’ decision affects multiple provisions and the law’s standing.
“It merely reduced the tax payment to zero,” the House said. “Members of Congress uniformly explained that they made that change to Section 5000A solely to eliminate any financial consequence from forgoing insurance, thereby freeing individuals to make an unconstrained choice whether to do so.”
If the law is struck down, it would eliminate provisions such as ensuring coverage of pre-existing conditions and state Medicaid expansion efforts. West Virginia is one of 36 states to expand.
According to a West Virginia University report, 719,000 non-elderly West Virginians have a pre-existing condition. The state Department of Health and Human Resources reported Monday more than 162,000 people have insurance coverage through Medicaid expansion.
The Justice Department announced in March 2019 its support for the legal challenge. According to CNN, U.S. Attorney General William Barr asked Trump administration officials on Monday to change the position to favoring preserving parts of the law.
Yet the president said Wednesday the administration is staying with Texas and other Republican states.
“We’re replacing it with a great health care at far less money, and it includes pre-existing conditions,” Trump said. “There will never be a time when we don’t have pre-existing conditions included.”
Alex Azar, the secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, told members of the Senate Finance Committee in February a proposal for “Obamacare” replacement will come after the legal challenge.
West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey has defended the state’s role in the lawsuit, previously telling MetroNews he is concerned about increasing premium costs.
He has also stated coverage for pre-existing conditions should continue; Morrisey unsuccessfully pushed the state Legislature during this year’s regular legislative session to pass protections for covering pre-existing conditions.
“Attorney General Morrisey remains deeply committed to ensuring health care coverage for those with preexisting conditions and vigorously fought for a state-based solution earlier this year, a multi-faceted effort to protect coverage for those with preexisting coverage, while also helping all West Virginians overcome the failings of Obamacare — chiefly its unmanageable, skyrocketing premiums and its unconstitutional individual mandate,” said Curtis Johnson, the Office of the Attorney General’s press secretary.
The Republican state coalition and the Justice Department have a June 25 deadline to submit opening briefs.