It looks like the courts may yet do what Congressional Republicans have so far been unable to – put a significant dent in the Affordable Care Act. A ruling from a district court in Oklahoma released earlier this week signaled another victory for critics of the Affordable Care Act. Although this ruling will be appealed, it’s a good reminder that even as anti-health care reform law sentiment may be cooling, challenges to its success still remain.
The Oklahoma case is the most recent ruling in a line of cases that have challenged the legality of the subsidies provided by the Affordable Care Act for the purchase of health insurance on the federal exchange. The judge in this case ruled that the subsidies cannot be provided to residents of states that are using the federal exchange. I wrote earlier this year about the devastating effects removing these subsidies would have on the insurance market and the overall success of the new health care law, effectively removing access to insurance from those who need it most.
A majority of the states are still relying on the federal government to operate their health insurance exchanges. A Supreme Court ruling against allowing the subsidies in those states would have far-reaching consequences. The Oklahoma ruling follows an announcement by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals earlier this month in the Halbig v. Burwell case that it will re-examine its earlier ruling against the subsidies and allow the case to be reheard in front of the full panel of judges in December. Another decision released by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, this past July ruled in favor of the subsidies.Read the rest of the story HERE and view a related video below:
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