House Democrats in the newly elected Congress aren't wasting anytime in trying to block Republican attempts to undermine former President Barack Obama's signature health law, the Affordable Care Act.
House Democrats late Tuesday released a set of rules for the incoming congressional session that give the new Democratic Speaker of the House the authority to intervene in a Texas court case that challenges the law's constitutionality. Democrats take back control of the U.S. House when Congress returns for the 116th congressional session Thursday.
The federal judge in the case, U.S. District Court Judge Reed O'Connor, ruled on Dec. 14 the health-care law, more commonly known as Obamacare, unconstitutional. At the same time, he is allowing the law to remain in effect while his ruling is being appealed.
O'Connor's ruling argued that the health-care law can not stand on its own since Congress last December essentially eliminated a key provision, the so-called individual mandate, which imposed a tax penalty on consumers who don't have health insurance. The mandate, which remained in effect for 2018, was a cornerstone of the ACA legislation. The mandate is the greater of $695 person per adult, or 2.5 percent of household income.
The U.S. Supreme Court has previously upheld the law under Congress' taxation power, and several Wall Street analysts expect the latest ruling in Texas to be overturned.
Health-care stocks fell in the first trading day after the judge's ruling, with the Health Care Select Sector SPDR (XLV) declining 2 percent.
A coalition of Democratic state attorneys general, led by California's Xavier Becerra, intend to appeal. Congressional Democrats also plan to appeal.
Xavier Becerra called the Texas ruling "an assault on 133 million Americans with preexisting conditions, on the 20 million Americans who rely on the ACA's consumer protections for healthcare."
More than $600 billion in federal funding for health care is on the line, the states said. In addition, an invalidation of the law would cause 12 million Americans to lose their insurance and strip 8 million low-income individuals of billions of dollars in tax credits.
President Donald Trump, who failed to rally enough Republicans to repeal and replace the health law in 2017, has applauded a the federal judge's ruling, and called on Congress to replace it with a new bill.
—CNBC's Tucker Higgins and AP contributed to this report.
from Top News & Analysis https://cnb.cx/2F0xV7M
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