Federal court strikes down ObamaCare subsidies
People who don’t like the lawlessness displayed by the Obama administration in its implementation of the Affordable Care Act have something to celebrate. On Sept. 30, a federal court in Oklahoma ruled that the Affordable Care Act means what it says: ObamaCare insurance subsidies are only available in states that have established their own health-insurance...
People who don’t like the lawlessness displayed by the Obama administration in its implementation of the Affordable Care Act have something to celebrate.
On Sept. 30, a federal court in Oklahoma ruled that the Affordable Care Act means what it says: ObamaCare insurance subsidies are only available in states that have established their own health-insurance exchanges. And an IRS rule that tried to make those subsidies available in all states – even those that did not create their own insurance exchanges, such as Oklahoma and Illinois – is invalid.
The decision by Judge Ronald A. White in Pruitt v. Burwell follows a similar decision in July by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in Halbig v. Burwell. The judges of that court, however, voted to rehear the case en banc, which means that all of its regular active judges, not just the usual three-judge panel, will consider the case again and issue a new decision.
The legal challenges surrounding the controversial subsidies don’t end there.
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which sits in Virginia, has issued a decision in King v. Burwell upholding the subsidies. And currently underway in an Indiana federal court is Indiana v. IRS, yet another lawsuit challenging the subsidies.
The Oklahoma case will now proceed to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The Indiana case will eventually go before the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, which sits in Chicago. And more challenges may still be brought in other circuits.
If any federal appeals court ultimately strikes down the IRS’s extension of ObamaCare subsidies, then there will be a split among the circuits, which the U.S. Supreme Court would likely resolve. If no appeals court strikes down the subsidies, however, then the Supreme Court probably won’t get involved.
As one would guess, all of this will take years to play out. But in the meantime, the subsidies will remain available nationwide.