Twenty states sued the federal government in February 2018 arguing that the current law requiring insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions is unconstitutional. The US Justice Department now sides with these 20 states in trying to use the courts to bring an end to Obamacare. Led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel, the lawsuit said that without the individual mandate, which was eliminated as part of the Republican tax law signed by President Donald Trump in December, Obamacare was unlawful. Ironically, observers say that these 20 states stand to lose more health care funding than many other states if the lawsuit is successful. A copy of the initial filing is available here.
Paxton said “The U.S. Supreme Court already admitted that an individual mandate without a tax penalty is unconstitutional. With no remaining legitimate basis for the law, it is time that Americans are finally free from the stranglehold of Obamacare, once and for all”.
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, representing one of the other twenty states in the lawsuit argues a provision in the Affordable Care Act requiring insurers to cover pre-existing conditions is unconstitutional. The lawsuit would affect almost one million people in Alabama alone according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, a non-profit with insurance industry connections. They say that about 1 in 3 people in the state of Alabama have a pre-existing medical condition that would not be covered if the state’s lawsuit is successful.
To address this situation, President Donald Trump issued an executive order early in his presidency directing the adoption of regulations that would deem some low-cost health insurance that does not cover pre-existing conditions as being ACA-compliant.
The 20 states that want to end Obamacare are: TEXAS, WISCONSIN, ALABAMA, ARKANSAS, ARIZONA, FLORIDA, GEORGIA, INDIANA, KANSAS, LOUISIANA, MAINE, MISSISSIPPI, MISSOURI, NEBRASKA, NORTH DAKOTA
, SOUTH CAROLINA, SOUTH DAKOTA, TENNESSEE, UTAH
, and WEST VIRGINIA.
Freedom Benefits stepped up its services to offer advice on choosing between the old and new types of health care plans and can help introduce consumers to the best health plan for their situation and budget. Freedom Benefits reminds residents of these 20 states that a medical condition that makes a person uninsurable can happen to anyone at any time. It is important to have a backup plan and an asset protection plan to protect family assets from the high cost of unexpected and uninsured medical costs.