Author Topic: Supreme Court may get to decide fate of Obamacare before 2020 election  (Read 413 times)

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CNN by Devan Cole, Tami Luhby and Ariane de Vogue 4/10/2019

A federal appeals court on Wednesday granted a Trump administration request to expedite oral arguments in a case challenging the legality of the Affordable Care Act.

The new time frame -- with arguments in early July -- means that the fate of Obamacare could come before the Supreme Court next term, with an opinion rendered by June of 2020 in the heart of the presidential campaign.

As in 2016 and the 2018 midterms, health care has already emerged as a core issue, though there are fissures in both parties. Congressional Democrats have rallied around Obamacare, while some of the party's presidential nominees are supporting "Medicare for All" plans that would offer universal, government-backed health coverage.

President Donald Trump, who campaigned in 2016 on repealing the law, has promised that Republicans will pass a "really great" health care plan after the 2020 election, although none has been proposed.

The administration last month sided with Republican-led states that are pushing for the law to be invalidated by the courts.

Attorney General William Barr said Wednesday he believes the Justice Department's decision not to argue in favor of upholding the Affordable Care Act is a "defensible legal position to take."

Initially, the Trump administration argued that two key provisions of the law that protect people with pre-existing conditions could no longer be defended, but the rest of the law could stand. But after a district court ruled in December 2018 that the entire law should be invalidated, the Justice Department changed its position and argues the district court ruling should be upheld in full.

As the administration debated its litigation strategy, Barr at first opposed to fully striking down the law. On Wednesday, he suggested that he is ready to back the administration's position.

More: https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/10/politics/obamacare-supreme-court-2020/index.html