Supreme Court declines to fast-track Affordable Care Act review
The Justices denied a motion by Democratic-led states and supported by insurers and hospitals to review an appeals court decision this term.
The Supreme Court has declined to fast-track review of the Affordable Care Act.
The Justices today denied a motion by Democratic-led states and opposed by the Department of Justice and Republican states, to review an appeals court decision that sent the case back to a district court in Texas.
The appeals court had ruled that the individual mandate was invalid, but sent back to the lower court a decision on whether the rest of the law could stand without it.
WHY THIS MATTERS
The American Hospital Association and other hospital organizations urged the Supreme Court to hear the review the case this term.
America's Health Insurance Plans had submitted a brief supporting the petition for Supreme Court review.
Insurance stability for millions was at stake and if the ACA were struck down, hospitals could face increasing amounts of uncompensated care costs, they said.
The case is now expected to go back to the District Court for the Northern District of Texas, which had sided with GOP states that the law was no longer valid without the individual mandate.
President Trump's solicitor general, Noel Francisco, said the decision preserved the status quo until a lower court looked more closely at which parts of the law should survive and it would be premature for the high court to intervene, according to The Washington Post.
THE LARGER TREND
In 2018, the Texas District Court ruled in favor of GOP states that had brought the lawsuit, that the ACA was unconstitutional because Congress had done away with the tax penalty for individuals who did not buy coverage.
Twitter: @SusanJMorse
Email the writer: susan.morse@himssmedia.com
