Federal Appeals Court to Hear Lawsuit Challenging Obamacare on July 9

ANCOR is sharing this article by the Associated Press (AP) because the Affordable Care Act (ACA, also known as Obamacare) has provisions that are important for people with disabilities. These provisions include protections for people with pre-existing conditions. Insurance companies classify intellectual / developmental disabilities such as autism and Down Syndrome as pre-existing conditions.

As written by the AP:

“A court has scheduled a July 9 hearing on a Texas-based judge’s ruling that former President Barack Obama’s signature health care law is unconstitutional.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans set the hearing date Tuesday.

The law’s opponents want a 5th Circuit panel to uphold U.S. District Court Judge Reed O’Connor’s 2018 ruling striking down the law.

O’Connor said Congress rendered the Affordable Care Act unconstitutional in 2017 by eliminating a tax penalty for not having insurance. The Trump administration joined Texas and other Republican-led states seeking to uphold O’Connor.

Numerous Democratic state attorneys general and the U.S. House of Representatives appealed to overturn O’Connor’s ruling. They argue that zeroing out the penalty doesn’t render the law unconstitutional.

The law remains in effect during appeals.”