According to a last-minute brief filed at the U.S. Supreme Court on June 25, it has become evident that the Trump administration plans to continue its fights to get the Affordable Care Act (ACA) declared unconstitutional. ACA, also referred to as Obamacare, is unquestionably the most comprehensive healthcare reform law enacted in March 2010 under the Obama regime with three primary objectives[1]:

• Make affordable health insurance easily accessible to more Americans. The law providers consumers with premium tax credits (subsidies) that reduce the costs for households with income between 100 percent and 400 percent of the federal poverty level.
• Expand the Medicaid program to cover all American adults with income below 138 percent of the federal poverty level.
• Assist and support innovative medical care delivery methods that are generically cost-effective.

The brief filed suggests the court declare ACA unconstitutional, with the agreement of a panel of appellate judges. The primary reasoning provided behind this move is that the Congress 2017 legislation has already made individual mandate $0. Moreover, the Trump administration also contends that the law was only plausibly constitutional under the Congress’ power to levy taxes. However, they argue that since the tax penalty has now been eliminated, the law should be reserved and deemed unconstitutional. The filing essentially came as a response to the government report that cited almost half a million Americans turning to the ACA in April and May, amid the pandemic[2].

It might be useful to step back in time a little to review previous decisions. Firstly, the individual mandate was ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans, in a 2-1 decision. The majority preferred returning the case to Judge Reed O’Connor in the federal District Court in Fort Worth, Texas, in order to establish that the mandate could be severed from the remaining law. Based on how important the mandate was to the law, O’Connor ruled ACA unconstitutional in 2018. Moreover, the 2012 Supreme Court decision had only upheld the mandate because it fell under Congress’ power over taxation issues[3].

The defense of the law was rendered ineffective when the tax penalty was eliminated in 2017.  The plaintiffs in the case, along with 20 state attorneys general, contended that the rest of the law must also be invalidated alongside. Interestingly, the Department of Justice sided with the plaintiffs in arguing against the law while refusing to defend it. This resulted in appealing of the Fifth Circuit decision. Ever since the health insurance coverage of around 23 million Americans still remains unresolved and up in the air.

Given the current public health emergency, the Trump administration has faced severe criticism in response to this step. While hundreds and thousands of Americans have lost their jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic, and have no other option but to resort to the government healthcare program, such news is as appalling as it is distressing. In times when healthcare has become the survival necessity of all Americans, the fight over ACA is only adding to the unpopularity of the president. There is no moral excuse that justifies taking away Americans’ healthcare, especially amid such a crisis; it is instead, outright barbarous. However, it is foreseeable with reasonable accuracy that no decision will be announced prior to the 2020 Presidential Election, which already aims to unseat President Trump.

[1] https://www.healthcare.gov/glossary/affordable-care-act/

[2] https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/06/26/trump-obamacare-supreme-court-brief/

[3] https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/14/health/obamacare-unconstitutional-texas-judge.html?action=click&module=RelatedLinks&pgtype=Article