Affordable Care Act Insurance Mandate Is Struck Down by Federal Appeals Court

A federal appeals court on Wednesday struck down a central provision of the Affordable Care Act, ruling that the requirement that people have health insurance was unconstitutional, reports the New York Times (Dec. 19, Goodnough). But the appeals panel did not invalidate the rest of the law, instead sending the case back to a federal district judge in Texas to "conduct a more searching inquiry" into which of the law's many parts could survive without the mandate. The 2-1 decision, by a panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans, left the fate of the nearly decade-old health law in limbo. Republican state attorneys general from Texas and 17 other conservative-leaning states brought the latest court challenge to the healthcare law, and the Trump administration joined in. California and a group of Democratic-led states stepped in to defend the law. California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra said he would ask the Supreme Court to take up the case without waiting for further proceedings in order to "get clarity and certainty" on the healthcare law. For now, the ruling leaves intact access to health care for millions of Americans, who face the loss of coverage if the law is wiped out entirely. By leaving the law in limbo, the appeals court's decision will stoke further political debate.