The US Supreme Court announced on March 2nd, that it will review the latest challenge to the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) constitutionality after a group of states led by Texas claimed that there is no longer a legal justification for it since the “individual mandate” was struck. The Affordable Care Act was first upheld as being constitutional by the Supreme Court under the justification that by tying the individual mandate to a financial penalty it fell under Congress’ taxation power. When President Trump and the Congress voted to eliminate the penalty as of 2019, Republican-led states claimed there was no longer a legal basis for the mandate and in turn the law. A lower court ruling declared that part of the law is now unconstitutional and cast a cloud over the balance of the ACA. A group of 20 Democratic states immediately appealed. Now the Supreme Court will again wade into the legality of the law in what will be a closely watched case that will have wide sweeping implications. A decision from the Supreme Court is not expected until after the 2020 Presidential election. For now, the ACA and its remaining provisions remain intact. We will monitor this development and share relevant information as necessary.
