Posted on 02/28/2018 10:58:37 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin
MADISON, Wis. – The rickety legal case for Obamacare’s core mandate just might be about to topple – along with the entire law.
Wisconsin and Texas on Monday took the lead in filing a new 20-state lawsuit alleging that Obamacare is unconstitutional now that the law’s individual tax penalty has been repealed.
The U.S. Supreme Court upheld Obamacare in 2012 on the shaky notion that the law’s individual mandate and associated fine for going uninsured was actually a tax, which Congress has the power to lay and collect. But a sweeping Republican tax reform package passed in December – in addition to overhauling the tax code – repealed the Obamacare penalty, a deeply unpopular fine paid by individuals who in many cases can’t afford insurance coverage.
The new lawsuit contends that since the high court’s 2012 ruling in favor of Obamacare hinges on the individual mandate being defined as a tax, then the individual mandate is unconstitutional now that the tax is gone. Since there is no “severability” clause in the law, striking down the individual mandate would strike down the entire law, the states argue.
When delivering its infamous ruling in the 2012 NFIB v. Sebelius case, the Supreme Court’s majority wrote that without the penalty – interpreted as a tax in the court’s tortured majority opinion – the individual mandate was an unconstitutional exercise of federal authority.
“The commerce power, Chief Justice Roberts explained, gives Congress the power to regulate commerce, and not to compel commerce, as Obamacare does,” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement.
“Since the Supreme Court has already held that Congress has no authority to impose such a mandate on Americans, absent invoking its taxing authority, the ACA is now unconstitutional,” the Wisconsin Department of Justice stated in a press release.
In 2018, premiums on the individual market spiked by 36 percent in Wisconsin.
Obamacare’s very existence rests upon the “flimsy support of Congress’ authority to tax. Congress has now kicked that flimsy support from beneath the law,” Paxton said.
“Obamacare’s irrational design wreaks havoc on health insurance markets,” Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel said in a similar statement.
Obamacare has made a mess of the individual insurance market in Wisconsin and across the country. In 2018, premiums on the individual market spiked by 36 percent in Wisconsin. The year before, the increase was nearly 16 percent.
Insurers are also fleeing the market in droves, forcing 75,000 Wisconsinites off their plans last year along. Deductibles are so high that many people who have the unaffordable coverage can’t even afford to see a doctor.
“Obamacare causes premiums to rise and coverage to fall, forcing Wisconsin and other states to take extreme, costly measures to protect their citizens’ health and pocketbooks,” Schimel said in the statement.
In response to this year’s 36 percent increase in premiums and growing market instability, Gov. Scott Walker on Tuesday signed a “reinsurance” plan designed to stanch the bleeding endured by Obamacare enrollees in Wisconsin. Under the plan, the state will cover up to 80 percent of private insurance companies’ claims that fall between $50,000 and $250,000. Administration officials say this would create an incentive for insurers to hold costs to below that upper limit.
But the plan will still cost taxpayers a lot of money – $200 million per year, with $50 million coming from the state budget and $150 million coming from the feds. The $50 million state portion will be paid for by savings in the state’s behemoth Medical Assistance program, officials say.
“Our Health Care Stability Plan is our solution to Washington’s failure; we want to provide health care stability and lower premiums for Wisconsin,” Walker said in a statement Tuesday when he signed legislation enacting the reinsurance plan.
“Gov. Walker did authorize the lawsuit because it questions the constitutionality of Obamacare,” Walker spokeswoman Amy Hasenberg told MacIver News. But she added that as long as Obamacare remains law, the state will continue to take steps to help Wisconsin families struggling under Obamacare.
“This is why Governor Walker created his Health Care Stability Plan which will help bring premiums down for those on the individual marketplace, and create stability for seniors and those with preexisting conditions,” Hasenberg said.
“With the passage of Governor Walker’s full Health Care Stability Plan, Wisconsin will have protections in place to ensure coverage for those under Obamacare if the law is eliminated,” she said.
Such plans aimed at cleaning up after Obamacare may not be necessary for long if the Supreme Court agrees with the 20 plaintiff states – and itself in the NFIB v. Sebelius decision – and strikes down the law.
Other states taking part in the lawsuit are Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, and West Virginia.
Thank You, President Trump! Thank You, Congress! (Albeit begrudgingly!) Thank You, Governors! :)
You know what would be really good?
An opposition party.
We need to give Trump some real allies.
Flake, Corker, Hatch, Heller, Alexander, Graham, McCain, Murkowsky, Hoeven, Rubio, Tillis, Burr, Lankford, Gardner, Cornyn, Cochran, Collins, Sasse, Kennedy, Shelby, Ernst, Blunt, McConnell, Wicker, Portman, Isakson, Johnson, Toomey, Rounds, Thune, Gaines, Barasso and Enzi are all Bush League Republicans.
What court was this filed? Supreme Court or Federal - where?
PS - We need to ignore his endorsements of Bush League Republicans and Cantorize them anyway.
We will never get the border secured and the laws enforced with them in office.
“Such plans aimed at cleaning up after Obamacare may not be necessary for long if the Supreme Court agrees with the 20 plaintiff states – and itself in the NFIB v. Sebelius decision – and strikes down the law.”
The above States are taking it to the Feds.
Seems like this should also apply to ethanol. Gas stations should not be compelled to buy ethanol in their Gasoline.
I, the end consumer should not be compelled to buy Gasoline with ethanol in it if I don’t want to.
Ethanol is a poor fuel for internal combustion engines and it is an expensive fuel to produce and transport. It is corrosive to metal and detrimental to many common plastic parts.
Let ethanol compete in the market place on its merits. Let the consumer decide if ethanol is worth buying.
Most important of all get government out of the market place. Politicians should not be deciding what the common man must purchase or not purchase with their hard earned dollar.
“...cleaning up after Obamacare may not be necessary for long if the Supreme Court agrees with the 20 plaintiff states – and itself in the NFIB v. Sebelius decision – and strikes down the law.”
Need one more Supreme with CJ Roberts on his knees for Obama.
Regarding ethanol, Amen, Brother!
What about the bought Supreme court judges?
They did not care that 10’s of millions of people lost their jobs the last time they ‘ruled’.
Let’s all do it Idaho it’s doing and effectively repeal it at the state level by allowing anyone to buy any plan.
Our Governor, Scott Walker (R, WI) just signed a bill to help about 200,000 Wisconsinites still trapped in 0bamacare until the above lawsuit is acted upon and/or more of 0bamacare is repealed.
Of course, the Enemy Media and insurance companies are painting it as an election year stunt (the timing IS suspicious, but these things happen in their own time) and Governor Walker does NOT contest our AG (Brad Schimmel) going forward with the suit I posted about, above.
We’ll get there!
https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/midwest/2018/02/28/481836.htm
IMHO insurance should be a STATE-level thing and we should be allowed to buy it (if we WANT to, not be FORCED to!) like any other PRODUCT, across state lines.
EVERYTHING Mother Government touches turns to shiite! Everything.
See my Post #13 as to what Wisconsin is also doing, re: 0bamacare.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.