The administration of Donald Trump secretly dealt a massive blow to the ACA (Affordable Care Act), also known as Obamacare. The U.S President asked a federal appeals court to end the Obama-era health insurance program and leave more than 20 million Americans without coverage. The Trump administration joined a coalition of conservative-leaning states and wrote a briefing to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, asking the judge to uphold U.S District Court Judge Reed O’Connor’s last year ruling to end the law. The administration said that the entirety of the law should be rendered unconstitutional due to the U.S Congress ended a tax penalty for not having health insurance in 2017. Actually, the Trump administration just only needed to terminate specific parts of the Affordable Care Act.
But, they explained in a brief filed to the courts on Wednesday that they had changed their minds. The Trump administration wrote, “The remaining provisions of the ACA should not be allowed to remain in effect again, even if the government might support some individual positions as a policy matter”. Democratic attorneys general with a team led by California’s Attorney General Xavier Becerra and the U.S. House of Representatives appealed O’Connor’s ruling. Becerra said in a statement on Wednesday, “Our legal coalition will vigorously defend the law and the Americans President Trump has abandoned”. The appeals court will hold oral arguments in July. The next step might be the Supreme Court, which has already heard 2 cases on Obamacare and still retains 4 of the original justices that voted for the law.
Trump administration and congressional Republicans currently haven’t finalized any plan to replace the Affordable Care Act. A recent study by the Kaiser Family Foundation has indicated that if Obamacare were repealed, nearly every American would be affected in some way. It is noteworthy that the foundation’s monthly poll of the Affordable Care Act also found that at least half of Americans have a “very” or “somewhat” favorable view of the law. At least 75% of the president’s base has an unfavorable view of Obamacare. The majority of Republicans do enjoy some elements of the ACA. More than 60% of Republicans support protections for those with pre-existing conditions. Nearly 70% support ending copayments for preventive services, while two-thirds support keeping adults under 26 years old on their parents’ insurance plans.