The Justice Department abandons the ACA — and with it, the law
By Ruth Marcus
Deputy editorial page editor, columnist
June 8 at 7:32 PM
A continuing challenge of covering the three-ring circus that is the Trump administration is not letting the outrageous antics and statements of the president and his allies distract attention from the outrageous policies being implemented on his watch.
One example, unfolding right now in the midst of the president’s various rhetorical wars — with our Group of Seven partners, with the special counsel, with his own attorney general — is the administration’s remarkable move not to defend the constitutionality of key parts of the Affordable Care Act.
This is a huge deal. First, if the administration’s position prevails, millions of Americans will lose the protections they thought they had against being denied coverage if they suffer from preexisting conditions. Second, and perhaps even scarier, the administration’s behavior sets a dangerous precedent about the obligation of this and future presidents to follow their constitutional duty to faithfully execute the laws enacted by Congress.
Some background: The Affordable Care Act required most Americans to obtain health insurance and imposed a penalty, administered by the Internal Revenue Service, on those who failed to comply. In upholding the constitutionality of the ACA, the Supreme Court found that the individual mandate exceeded Congress’s power under the Commerce Clause but nonetheless upheld the requirement as a legitimate exercise of Congress’s power to tax. In last year’s tax bill, Congress effectively repealed the individual mandate by setting the penalty for noncompliance at zero, beginning next year. Twenty states then sued, claiming that because no tax revenue is to be collected as a result of the individual mandate, the remainder of the law is unconstitutional as well.
more:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-justice-department-abandons-the-aca--and-with-it-the-law/2018/06/08/599fe25a-6b60-11e8-9e38-24e693b38637_story.html?utm_term=.6020ec56e33a
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