Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

20 States Think They May Have Just Figured Out How to Kill Obamacare Once and For All

20 States Think They May Have Just Figured Out How to Kill Obamacare Once and For All
WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 9: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks to reporters at a news conference outside the Supreme Court on Capitol Hill on June 9, 2016 in Washington, D.C. Paxton announced a lawsuit against the state of Delaware over unclaimed checks. (Photo by Gabriella Demczuk/Getty Images)

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, President Donald Trump's recent tax reform law, contains a provision eliminating the individual mandate in 2019, a cornerstone of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.


Now, twenty states, including Texas, Wisconsin, Florida, Indiana, and West Virginia, filed lawsuits on Monday claiming that ending the individual mandate means Obamacare is unconstitutional, and thus the law should be done away with. "Following the enactment of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, the country is left with an individual mandate to buy health insurance that lacks any constitutional basis," the lawsuit states.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is leading the charge against Obamacare and released a statement following the lawsuit's filing.

"Texans have known all along that Obamacare is unlawful, and a divided Supreme Court’s approval rested solely on the flimsy support of Congress’s authority to tax. Congress has now kicked that flimsy support from beneath the law," Paxton said in his statement. "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."

The individual mandate requires people who choose not to purchase health insurance to pay a tax penalty.

The Supreme Court ruled in its 2012 National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius decision that Obamacare was constitutional because it falls under Congress's power to tax.

Scrapping the ACA has been the goal of Republicans since its passage in 2010 and was one of then-candidate Donald Trump's primary campaign promises in 2016. He has yet to put forth an alternative.

Up to 20 million Americans have obtained health insurance under the Affordable Care Act. Of those 20 million, 14.5 million have gained coverage thanks to state expansions of Medicare, Medicaid, and other government subsidy programs. Because of Trump's tax law, however, 5 million people could lose their coverage in 2019.

And that's just the beginning. Should Obamacare be eliminated entirely, health premiums will skyrocket and estimated 32 million people could be left without essential health services.

Under the ACA, people with pre-existing conditions cannot be denied coverage, preventative health services such as checkups are covered, and there are no lifetime caps on costs of care. Obamacare also expands mental health services, which is a factor in our country's ongoing debate over gun control.

More from News

Rebel Wilson
Amanda Edwards/Getty Images

Rebel Wilson Reveals She Was Nearly Left 'Permanently Disfigured' By Accident On Film Set

After first becoming friends more than 14 years ago on the set of the first Pitch Perfect movie, Anna Camp and Rebel Wilson are back together in Bride Hard, now with Camp as the bride and Wilson as her best friend, and also a secret agent.

There is some chance of injury in almost any job, but with stunts in an action film, there are bound to be incidents, even if it's just a few stubbed toes.

Keep ReadingShow less
Joe Biden; Alan Ritchson
Bruce Glikas/WireImage; Michael Loccisano/Getty Images

Joe Biden And His Family Accidentally Crashed The 'Reacher' Set And Met Star Alan Ritchson

What do you do when you're the former President and you stumble upon a real-live Hollywood film set? Why, fan boy just like the rest of us, of course!

President Joe Biden and his family were heading to dinner on a recent night in Philadelphia when they happened upon the set of the Amazon Prime show Reacher. In fact, he drove right up to the set itself, seemingly without even realizing it.

Keep ReadingShow less
Mike Lee
Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

GOP Senator Faces MAGA Backlash Over Plan To Sell Millions Of Acres Of Public Land

Utah Republican Senator Mike Lee is facing harsh criticism—including from Team MAGA—over his proposal to sell off millions of acres of public land in the American West owned by the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service to supposedly create more affordable housing.

Lee claimed in his proposal that there is an "extensive process for interested parties like States and local governments to nominate land for disposal to meet housing and community needs," noting that it specifically exempts national parks, monuments, and federally designated wilderness areas from potential land sales.

Keep ReadingShow less
Donald Trump
Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

Trump Ripped For Complaining That Americans Get 'Too Many' Federal Holidays Off Work

While it was ultimately former President Joe Biden who established Juneteenth as a federal holiday, President Donald Trump—who once campaigned on that promise—took to Truth Social on Juneteenth to whine about the number of "non-working holidays" Americans get, claiming that it costs businesses "billions of dollars."

Juneteenth is derived from June 19, 1865, when Union troops led by General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, and declared that all enslaved African Americans in the state were free.

Keep ReadingShow less
A woman sitting up in bed as a man sleeps next to her.
Florida State University Researchers Find Predictors for Infidelity in New Study
(Wodicka/ullstein bild via Getty Images)

The Biggest 'They're Definitely Cheating On Me!' Signs People Ignored

When our partner commits suspicious behavior, it's easy for us to jump to conclusions.

Most of the time, the conclusions we jump to are 100% wrong and are just our imaginations playing tricks with us.

Keep ReadingShow less