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Judge’s Ruling Revives the Affordable Care Act Challenge

Judge’s Ruling Revives the Affordable Care Act Challenge

by sevaa

By May 26, 2016September 18th, 2021Insights

The last time we reported on the attempts to have the Affordable Care Act or Obamacare repealed, it was July 2015, and the Supreme Court had just ruled on the King v. Burwell case, effectively upholding the legitimacy of the insurance subsidies within the Act as a funding mechanism.  That ruling was referred to, at the time, as perhaps the last credible attempt to repeal Obamacare.

Fast forward ten months to the May 12, 2016 headline of a federal judge’s ruling on a House Republican lawsuit against the Obama administration, which effectively blocked certain subsidy type payments to insurers for out of pocket costs otherwise due by low income individuals covered under the Act.  The ruling in part revives the Republicans’ battle, as US District Judge Rosemary Collyer ruled that the payments have not been properly appropriated, which in turn provides additional ammunition for the Republican premise that the Obama administration has overstepped the boundaries of its authority.

Judge Collyer stayed her ruling pending the administration’s ability to appeal, which means that changes won’t be seen anytime soon, but clearly the ruling sets up another few rounds of drama in the fight over Obamacare.

For more information on how this ruling may affect your business, please contact Michael Dukes by calling 770.396.2200.