Twenty U.S. states sue federal government seeking end to Obamacare

[webfact]

Twenty U.S. states sue federal government seeking end to Obamacare

 

FILE PHOTO: A sign on an insurance store advertises Obamacare in San Ysidro, San Diego, California, U.S., October 26, 2017. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo

 

(Reuters) - A coalition of 20 U.S. states sued the federal government on Monday over Obamacare, claiming the law was no longer constitutional after the repeal last year of its requirement that people have health insurance or pay a fine.

 

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.

 

"The U.S. Supreme Court already admitted that an individual mandate without a tax penalty is unconstitutional," Paxton said in a statement. "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," he said.

 

The U.S. Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether the Trump administration would defend the law in court.

 

The individual mandate in Obamacare was meant to ensure a viable health insurance market by forcing younger and healthier Americans to buy coverage.

 

Republicans have opposed the 2010 law formally known as the Affordable Care Act, the signature domestic policy achievement of Trump's Democratic predecessor Barack Obama, since its inception.

 

Paxton and Schimel, both Republicans, were joined in the lawsuit by 18 states including Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Utah and West Virginia. It was filed in U.S. District Court in the Northern District of Texas.

 

(Reporting by Eric Beech in Washington)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-02-27

[lannarebirth]

Can't say I'm surprised. It was built to fail.

[spidermike007]

Tiny DT- Continuing the trend of decreasing the quality of life, for the average America. Moving America backwards. Re-populating the swamp with his own brand of alligators and crocodiles. The art of I cannot make a deal to save my life!

[lannarebirth]

1 minute ago, spidermike007 said:

Tiny DT- Continuing the trend of decreasing the quality of life, for the average America. Moving America backwards. Re-populating the swamp with his own brand of alligators and crocodiles. The art of I cannot make a deal to save my life!

 

You can't blame Trump for this one. Obamacare was misconstructed. It was bound to fail. The sooner it does the better the chances of replacing it with something better like single payer. It's too bad Obama never had the stones to push for that originally.

 

https://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/peter-roff/2013/07/09/employer-mandate-waiver-just-the-latest-obamacare-trainwreck

[spidermike007]

7 minutes ago, lannarebirth said:

 

You can't blame Trump for this one. Obamacare was misconstructed. It was bound to fail. The sooner it does the better the chances of replacing it with something better like single payer. It's too bad Obama never had the stones to push for that originally.

 

https://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/peter-roff/2013/07/09/employer-mandate-waiver-just-the-latest-obamacare-trainwreck

I tend to agree, that Obamacare was a disaster for most. I know a few couples who's premiums went from $400 a month, to $1,600 a month! For two people! Silly.

[lannarebirth]

2 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

I tend to agree, that Obamacare was a disaster for most. I know a few couples who's premiums went from $400 a month, to $1,600 a month! For two people! Silly.

 

Mine are $2,186 per month for 3, which includes a 21 yo.

[Phuket Stan]

With the attitude of many USA citizens this same argument will still be recurring in 50 years time.....until they get Universal Healthcare the people owning the medical services, drug companies etc etc will just keep getting fatter

Medical insurance when travelling to the USA 35-40 years ago was 50-75% more expensive than travelling to Europe and it still remains the same ...ahh well the Americans know best whereas out of all the 50 odd countries that do have Universal Care not one is trying to change it even though there are some warts within some systems

[spidermike007]

1 hour ago, lannarebirth said:

 

Mine are $2,186 per month for 3, which includes a 21 yo.

 

And that is the answer we were looking for. That is just stupid. <deleted>? I mean who can afford that? That amounts to the total income of alot of American households. 

[soalbundy]

A British friend of mine went to work freelance in America, after three months he had to go to the dentist, after the dentist had examined him my friend asked what it would cost, the dentist wrote it down on a piece of paper and handed it to him, he thought at first it was his telephone number. He flew back to the UK had it done on the NHS, had a three week holiday and flew back and it was still cheaper than the American dentist.

[Srikcir]

7 hours ago, webfact said:

A coalition of 20 U.S. states sued the federal government on Monday over Obamacare, claiming the law was no longer constitutional after the repeal last year of its requirement that people have health insurance or pay a fine.

Blame the US Congressional Republicans for continuation of ACA. They were unable to repeal the law last year. The removal of the the mandate amounts to an amendment. Congress is welcome to repeal the whole law.

Meanwhile, the law still stands, the Trump administration continues ACA enrollment and it's  funding as an entitlement program.

 

If US Attorney General Sessions chooses not to defend the government against the states' lawsuits (cannot identify all 20 but did find TX, WI, GE, WVA, AR, UT, WI - so probably all are "red states"), I wonder if the Court has the legal temerity to still rule for the government. With ACA I would think the court could still rule for the government under the theory that ACA was created by Congress and Congress can repeal it.

 

[wwest5829]

How long did the US wait for a viable proposal? None were made and the only way to insure the bulk of citizens having coverage was the poorly compromised Affordable Care Act. And now? If successful with this gambit, we go back to what existed before. Ha! Medical insurance costs will go down, of course? And how many will have no healthcare coverage again? So, they do not seek medical care or they show up at the emergency room and the taxpayer picks up the bill. I'm all for joining the rest of the countries having a national healthcare scheme. But in the US its all about the money so the current majority political party controlling Congress and the White House has presented no proposals..... My hope is that we will see a large change come November with many established representatives of both parties swept away.

[Srikcir]

27 minutes ago, wwest5829 said:

My hope is that we will see a large change come November with many established representatives of both parties swept away.

Replaced by what other parties?

Even if such an event took place in the US House and Senate as you hope, there can be no practical change since any new party/parties would not have a majority in Congress to effect change. They would be worse off politically than the current Democrat minority.

[Lacessit]

5 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

 

And that is the answer we were looking for. That is just stupid. <deleted>? I mean who can afford that? That amounts to the total income of alot of American households. 

Perhaps you guys should apply for Australian citizenship. My private health cover ( top level ) costs $2400 a year. Australian dollars.

[stevenl]

6 hours ago, lannarebirth said:

 

You can't blame Trump for this one. Obamacare was misconstructed. It was bound to fail. The sooner it does the better the chances of replacing it with something better like single payer. It's too bad Obama never had the stones to push for that originally.

 

https://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/peter-roff/2013/07/09/employer-mandate-waiver-just-the-latest-obamacare-trainwreck

Obamacare was the best that could be done at the time. Far from ideal, agreed, but more was simply not possible.

 

But Trump did what he could to obstruct, so yes, the present situation can and should be blamed on Trump.

 

It was not ideal but better than nothing.

[Jingthing]

11 minutes ago, stevenl said:

Obamacare was the best that could be done at the time. Far from ideal, agreed, but more was simply not possible.

 

But Trump did what he could to obstruct, so yes, the present situation can and should be blamed on Trump.

 

It was not ideal but better than nothing.

ACA had winners and losers.

The winners were poorer people and/or people with preexisting conditions.

The losers were outside the employer paid system / Medicare that have higher incomes so can't qualify for premium subsidies.

Also those that would have qualified for expanded Medicaid (and ACA addition) but live in red states that opted out of it. They have been the biggest losers but they weren't worse off than before ACA, just didn't benefit as intended by ACA.

 

It needed adjustments of course short of something more universal which is of course the only real solution. 

It didn't need trashing.

Lack of health care access kills. 

 

Whether this totally kill ACA move succeeds or not, moving towards some kind of more universal plan will be a very important issue going forward, especially in 2020. 

Edited February 27, 2018 by Jingthing

[rgraham]

About time to get rid of this nightmare!

[Jingthing]

5 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

 

And that is the answer we were looking for. That is just stupid. <deleted>? I mean who can afford that? That amounts to the total income of alot of American households. 

What he conveniently failed to mention is that if he is paying that much, that means he is HIGHER INCOME and either gets no or low ACA premium subsidies. Not saying those rates are reasonable, just that they distort the overall issue, as most people paying ACA premiums get significant subsidies. 

[Jingthing]

4 minutes ago, rgraham said:

About time to get rid of this nightmare!

 

Yes sure, and to hell with people outside Medicare and employer paid plans with preexisting conditions and poorer people that are not poor enough for traditional Medicaid. Just let them die!  That's the republican / "trump" plan and it is murderous and EVIL. The democrats are gearing to FIGHT BACK and move towards universal. 

 

ACA is/was a crappy compromise. Killing ACA with no replacement is much worse.

Edited February 27, 2018 by Jingthing

[wwest5829]

50 minutes ago, Srikcir said:

Replaced by what other parties?

Even if such an event took place in the US House and Senate as you hope, there can be no practical change since any new party/parties would not have a majority in Congress to effect change. They would be worse off politically than the current Democrat minority.

I’m thinking replaced with enough progressive independents who will openly debate the merits of an issue and have enough votes to bargain with both major parties. Hey! If  I’m Going to hope, I’ll hope for breaking the current deadlock and inaction or stopping the current majority passing such foibles as the recent tax ,as or the minority party from passing the past Affordable Care Act.

[connda]

6 hours ago, Phuket Stan said:

With the attitude of many USA citizens this same argument will still be recurring in 50 years time.....until they get Universal Healthcare the people owning the medical services, drug companies etc etc will just keep getting fatter

Medical insurance when travelling to the USA 35-40 years ago was 50-75% more expensive than travelling to Europe and it still remains the same ...ahh well the Americans know best whereas out of all the 50 odd countries that do have Universal Care not one is trying to change it even though there are some warts within some systems

I'll give you an idea of the problem with the US.
I bought the deworming medicine, Albendazole for the family.  We routinely deworm our dogs and ourself once a year.

Here in Thailand, generic Albendazole sells for about $1.00 USD per dose at the current exchange rate.  In the US it sells for anywhere between $200 to $850 for a single dose.  That is pure consumer predation on the part of 'Big Pharma.'

The drug companies, the heath care system, and the insurers are predatory, especially the drug companies.  The US legislators in Congress and the Senate are complicit.  They do nothing to rein in predatory practices in the Health Care Industry. 

The US needs a nationalize health care system like other Western countries, or even Thailand.  But it will never happen because the health care lobbies basically control Washington DC.  Even if they come up with another scheme, it will just be anther convoluted mess that benefits health care corporations.  It's a Good 'Old Boy corpocracy over there - corporations and your congressional representatives being the winners, and the average US citizens being the losers.   As usual. 

Edited February 27, 2018 by connda

[Jingthing]

9 minutes ago, connda said:

I'll give you an idea of the problem with the US.
I bought the deworming medicine, Albendazole for the family.  We routinely deworm our dogs and ourself once a year.

Here in Thailand, generic Albendazole sells for about $1.00 USD per dose at the current exchange rate.  In the US it sells for anywhere between $200 to $850 for a single dose.  That is pure consumer predation on the part of 'Big Phama.'

The drug companies, the heath care system, and the insurers are predatory, especially the drug companies.  The US legislators in Congress and the Senate are complicit.  They do nothing to rein in predatory practices in the Health Care Industry. 

The US needs a nationalize health care system like other Western countries, or even Thailand.  But it will never happen because the health care lobbies basically control Washington DC.  Even if they come up with another scheme, it will just be anther convoluted mess that benefits health care corporations.  It's a Good 'Old Boy corpocracy over there - corporations and your congressional representatives being the winners, and the average US citizens being the losers.   As usual. 

Yes, it's an absolute nightmare.

I wouldn't call change hopeless though. Just very, very difficult. What "trump" is doing now to make things even worse will motivate a very strong backlash. 

The democratic party will definitely be running in 2020 on an explicit "path to universal" agenda. There is strong public support for that. 

 

There is a new plan gaining resonance now. Not instant universal, but a gradual transition. ACA wasn't that. Something like this would be --

 

https://slate.com/business/2018/02/cap-floats-a-new-health-care-plan-called-medicare-extra-and-its-good.html

 

Some Democratic Establishment Wonks Put Out a Medicare-for-All Plan. And It’s Pretty Good!

 

https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/healthcare/reports/2018/02/22/447095/medicare-extra-for-all/

Edited February 27, 2018 by Jingthing

[samran]

7 hours ago, lannarebirth said:

 

You can't blame Trump for this one. Obamacare was misconstructed. It was bound to fail. The sooner it does the better the chances of replacing it with something better like single payer. It's too bad Obama never had the stones to push for that originally.

 

https://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/peter-roff/2013/07/09/employer-mandate-waiver-just-the-latest-obamacare-trainwreck

But you know they aren’t talking away the aca because they are wanting to replace it with anything better. 

 

They are a taking it away because it’s on their DNA to be absolute c*nts on this issue. 

[Jingthing]

2 minutes ago, samran said:

But you know they aren’t talking away the aca because they are wanting to replace it with anything better. 

 

They are a taking it away because it’s on their DNA to be absolute c*nts on this issue. 

Yep.

They're going too far now.

Millions of poorer and/or people with preexisting conditions have greatly benefited from ACA, flawed as it was. 

They intend to rip that all apart and with no replacement except the bad old days of crammed up Emergency Rooms and much higher rates of people dying too early for lack of proper long term care.

They are breaking it and they aren't interested in fixing it. Morally bankrupt.

[Slip]

The world is rapidly losing patience with the US.

 

Can't fix healthcare, can't fix taxation, can't fix gun violence, can't fix racism, can't fix ANY global issues, can't fix their attitude towards the environment, can't fix the NRA, can't fix big pharma or Wall St, can't fix institutionalised anti-muslim/black/hispanic bias, cant fix evangelists, can't fix overt homophobic hate crimes.  I could go on but it would just be boring.

 

If the country wants to continue to have any sort of international credibility it needs to address its woes p.d.q.

[lannarebirth]

3 hours ago, Jingthing said:

What he conveniently failed to mention is that if he is paying that much, that means he is HIGHER INCOME and either gets no or low ACA premium subsidies. Not saying those rates are reasonable, just that they distort the overall issue, as most people paying ACA premiums get significant subsidies. 

Oh, and that's not counting the $21,000/yr family deductible. No, I do not get subsidies, I instead subsidize others. Many others. You're welcome.

[Jingthing]

The world is rapidly losing patience with the US.
 
Can't fix healthcare, can't fix taxation, can't fix gun violence, can't fix racism, can't fix ANY global issues, can't fix their attitude towards the environment, can't fix the NRA, can't fix big pharma or Wall St, can't fix institutionalised anti-muslim/black/hispanic bias, cant fix evangelists, can't fix overt homophobic hate crimes.  I could go on but it would just be boring.
 
If the country wants to continue to have any sort of international credibility it needs to address its woes p.d.q.

Not sure how much international people care about U. S. domestic stuff but it's definitely true that the value of the U.S. brand in general is in the "trump" toilet and deservedly so.

Sent from my [device_name] using http://Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[lannarebirth]

2 hours ago, samran said:

But you know they aren’t talking away the aca because they are wanting to replace it with anything better. 

 

They are a taking it away because it’s on their DNA to be absolute c*nts on this issue. 

 

People like to think that change comes incrementally and that's why you settle for something shitty today because of the promise of incremental improvement tomorrow. Well, that's bullshit. In America change has always come through new, bold, sweeping initiatives put forth by presidents who tried to change the course of their nations history. We haven't had a president like that since Nixon and his predecessors. All presidents since are in the pocket of special interests and have been content to oversee the decline of a nation. Because that is what they were hired to do. 

 

It is much better to get rid of something that is not working whether it improves the situation or not. In America things improve only when the situation is bad enough, not when substantial percentages of the population are being served while others are not. You think the people on Medicare and Medicaid give a shit if the rest of the population has healthcare? They do not.

[joecoolfrog]

3 hours ago, rgraham said:

About time to get rid of this nightmare!

Dont worry , Trump will be gone soon.

[lannarebirth]

3 hours ago, stevenl said:

Obamacare was the best that could be done at the time. Far from ideal, agreed, but more was simply not possible.

 

But Trump did what he could to obstruct, so yes, the present situation can and should be blamed on Trump.

 

It was not ideal but better than nothing.

 

If more was not possible at that time with the Democrats controlling the White House and both branches of Congress, what is the argument for electing Democrats now to pass Universal Healthcare?

[Slip]

38 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Not sure how much international people care about U. S. domestic stuff but it's definitely true that the value of the U.S. brand in general is in the "trump" toilet and deservedly so.

Sent from my [device_name] using http://Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app
 

These days everyone and his uncle Bob/Boris is watching the U.S. - domestic stuff 'n all.