Judge O’Connor strikes down the Affordable Care Act

On December 14, 2018, US federal court Judge Reed O’Connor ruled that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is unconstitutional.

O’Connor cited the individual mandate in his decision, which required most Americans to have health insurance or pay a fine, allowing for a hardship exemption. By extension, Judge O’Connor stated that Obamacare could not exist without this individual mandate, thereby ruling the entire act unconstitutional.

The Affordable Care Act is still in place despite the ruling because O’Connor’s decision is being appealed in many courts. Attorney generals around the country, including Brian Frosh of Maryland and Xavier Becerra of California, have announced that they will be fighting this ruling in courts. As a result, there is no immediate impact of the decision to those using the ACA to access healthcare in 2019.

Prominent politicians across the political spectrum have responded to this ruling, as President Donald Trump tweeted, “Obamacare has been struck down as an UNCONSTITUTIONAL disaster! Now Congress must pass a STRONG law that provides GREAT healthcare and protects pre-existing conditions,” while Barack Obama said in a Facebook post, “All of this should also be a reminder that Republicans will never stop trying to undo all that. If they can’t get it done in Congress, they’ll keep trying in the courts, even when it puts people’s pre-existing conditions coverage at risk.”
Article by MoCo Student staff writer Shevani Tewari of Richard Montgomery High School