Page 4 - aruba-today-20190710

A4 UP FRONT
Wednesday 10 July 2019

Validity of Obama health care law at

issue in appeal hearing

Continued from Front answered by the judiciary who filed suit have no
but by Congress. case because they aren’t
Judge Jennifer Walker El- “This is a political solution harmed by a penalty that
rod remarked that the that you ... are asking the doesn’t exist; the reduction
law’s mandate that peo- court to roll up its sleeves of the tax penalty to zero
ple buy insurance ap- and get involved in,” he could be read as a suspen-
peared intact, and Judge said. But Douglas Letter, an sion of the tax, but the tax’s
Kurt Engelhardt seemed attorney for the U.S. House legal structure still exists;
to agree. Engelhardt also of Representatives, argued and if the individual man-
pointedly suggested that that the elimination of the date is now unconstitution-
In this March 23, 2010, file photo, President Barack Obama signs the question of whether tax penalty doesn’t under- al, that does not affect the
the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in the East Room each piece of the law mine the law’s constitu- rest of the law.
of the White House in Washington.
Associated Press should survive shouldn’t be tionality. And he said de- When the law was pro-
termining which parts of a posed, friends and foes of
law can be salvaged and “Obamacare” agreed that
which must be removed is the tax was essential to per-
clearly a task for the courts, suade healthy people to
established by Supreme get insured, thereby keep-
Court precedent. ing premiums in check. But
The ultimate outcome will this year — the first time
affect protections for peo- no fines will be collected
ple with pre-existing condi- — the number of people
tions, Medicaid expansions signing up for subsidized
covering roughly 12 million private insurance through
people, and subsidies that the Affordable Care Act
help about 10 million others slipped only slightly.
afford health insurance. The government said in
The lawsuit, spearhead- March that a total of 11.4
ed by the Texas Attorney million people signed up
General’s Office, was filed during open enrollment
after Congress, in 2017, ze- season, a dip of about
roed out a tax the Afford- 300,000 from last year.
able Care Act imposed on 5th U.S. Circuit Court of
those without insurance. Appeals Judge Caro-
Republicans had tried, but lyn Dineen King asked no
failed to win full repeal of questions Tuesday. King
“Obamacare,” as Presi- was nominated to the ap-
dent Donald Trump had peals court by Democratic
wanted. Obama signed President Jimmy Carter in
the health care act into 1979. Elrod was nominated
law in 2010. by Republican President
In challenging the law George W. Bush in 2007.
anew, “Obamacare” op- Engelhardt was nominated
ponents cited the U.S. Su- by Trump, a Republican,
preme Court’s 2012 ruling last year. Democrats in the
upholding the legislation. U.S. Senate said Monday
In that ruling, conservative that Republicans will pay a
justices rejected the argu- political price if the case re-
ment that Congress could sults in the loss of the popu-
require everyone to buy lar health care law.
insurance under the Con- “If they are successful in
stitution’s interstate com- striking down the Afford-
merce clause. But Chief able Care Act, Repub-
Justice John Roberts, join- licans will own all of the
ing four liberal justices, said consequences,” Senate
Congress did have the Democratic Leader Chuck
power to impose the tax. Schumer of New York said
Among the arguments by on a call Monday with
the law’s supporters: Those reporters.q