As many of you may have heard, a panel of federal appeals judges in New Orleans will soon weigh in on a lower court decision in Texas v. United States. This case from April 2018 saw Texas and 19 other states (plus two individual plaintiffs) argue successfully that the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA’s) individual mandate provision was unconstitutional after Congress eliminated it as part of tax reform passed in 2017. According to the Texas trial court, this action “compel[led] the conclusion” that the individual mandate ceased to be a Constitutional exercise of Congress’ taxing power because the associated financial penalty no longer “produce[d] at least some revenue” for the federal government. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit will now reconsider this lower court decision. Oral arguments heard this week have led some experts and analysts to speculate that the appeals court agrees at least in part with the lower court's verdict.
While we await the appeals court ruling, we want to reiterate—as we have since 2016—our concern that hasty, misguided ACA repeal efforts risk the future stability of care for us all as we age.
While the original district court ruling did not immediately strike down the system put in place by the ACA—a system that has been critical to securing health coverage for more Americans, including older adults—it has risked throwing our health system into greater chaos in the absence of swift, bipartisan action on effective solutions. We will continue to lend our voice and insights to the future of that action, which must protect health, safety, and independence for us all as we grow older.
You can read more about our stance on health reform and ACA repeal efforts here.
Kaiser Health News also published a primer on “five important things to know” about the U.S. Court of Appeals case. You can access their insights here.