OBAMACARE RULED UNCONSTITUTIONAL

On December 14, 2018, a Texas federal judge ruled that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is unconstitutional.  The basis was that the ACA's individual mandate is no longer binding, because Republicans repealed its financial penalties as part of the 2017 tax reform legislation.  The Supreme Court had previously upheld the ACA by calling the mandate a "tax" that was within Congress's power, but the "tax" was reduced to zero by the 2017 tax reform bills.  The federal judge also found that since Congress had said the individual mandate was crucial to the structure of the ACA, then all of the ACA must fall along with the mandate.

The ruling allows the ACA to currently remain in effect, and the case will undoubtedly be appealed and may be reversed.  Even in the absence of a reversal, there will be a lot of interest on both sides of the aisle to work out a compromise resolution as public opinion has swung in favor of many aspects of the ACA.