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WASHINGTON — Supreme Court justices on Tuesday sounded ready to uphold the Affordable Care Act for the third time and reject the latest challenge from its conservative critics, including President Trump.
Most of the justices gave a skeptical hearing to Texas Republicans and Trump’s lawyers, who insisted the entire law, also known as Obamacare, should be voided because Congress had eliminated the tax penalty for those who did not have insurance.
Several justices said that while this change may have ended the much-disputed insurance “mandate,” removal of the provision did not invalidate the rest of the broad law, including its insurance subsidies for 20 million Americans and its coverage protections for tens of millions more with preexisting conditions.
Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said Congress in 2017 did nothing more than eliminate the tax penalty for those who did not have insurance. “Here, Congress left the rest of the law intact. That seems to be compelling evidence on the question” that the rest of the law should stand, he said.
Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh took the same view. He said the mandate to enforce that people buy insurance was unconstitutional, but that should not affect the rest of the law. “It seems very clear the proper remedy is to sever the mandate provision and leave the rest,” he said.
Joined by the three liberal justices, they could form a majority to uphold the law.
Tuesday’s hearing marked the third major challenge to Obamacare to come before the high court as well as the first major test for Justice Amy Coney Barrett. Twice before the law was upheld by a slim majority of liberal justices joined by Roberts.
Senate Democrats said last month they feared Barrett would cast a key vote to strike down the law, but she signaled she did not see a reason for striking down a broad law because of one flawed provision.
https://www.latimes.com/politics/st...hears-latest-gop-bid-to-strike-down-obamacare
Most of the justices gave a skeptical hearing to Texas Republicans and Trump’s lawyers, who insisted the entire law, also known as Obamacare, should be voided because Congress had eliminated the tax penalty for those who did not have insurance.
Several justices said that while this change may have ended the much-disputed insurance “mandate,” removal of the provision did not invalidate the rest of the broad law, including its insurance subsidies for 20 million Americans and its coverage protections for tens of millions more with preexisting conditions.
Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said Congress in 2017 did nothing more than eliminate the tax penalty for those who did not have insurance. “Here, Congress left the rest of the law intact. That seems to be compelling evidence on the question” that the rest of the law should stand, he said.
Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh took the same view. He said the mandate to enforce that people buy insurance was unconstitutional, but that should not affect the rest of the law. “It seems very clear the proper remedy is to sever the mandate provision and leave the rest,” he said.
Joined by the three liberal justices, they could form a majority to uphold the law.
Tuesday’s hearing marked the third major challenge to Obamacare to come before the high court as well as the first major test for Justice Amy Coney Barrett. Twice before the law was upheld by a slim majority of liberal justices joined by Roberts.
Senate Democrats said last month they feared Barrett would cast a key vote to strike down the law, but she signaled she did not see a reason for striking down a broad law because of one flawed provision.
https://www.latimes.com/politics/st...hears-latest-gop-bid-to-strike-down-obamacare
