On September 5, a U.S. District Court judge in Texas held a hearing in the case of Texas v. United States (formerly Texas v. Azar), in which twenty Republican state attorneys-general are challenging the continued validity of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) now that the “individual mandate” for people to buy insurance has been repealed. The administration is not defending the law and is siding in part with the plaintiffs. The judge has not yet issued a ruling on the motion for a preliminary injunction. As explained in Here’s What You Need to Know About the Lawsuit Trying To End Obamacare (ThinkProgress, 9/5/18), “Best case scenario: O’Connor lets the ACA stand or just strikes down the individual mandate, which is zeroed out in 2019 anyway. Worst case scenario: O’Connor grants the preliminary injunction, temporarily blocking enforcement of the entire ACA.” For more detail, see Judge Hears Oral Arguments in Texas v. United States (Health Affairs, 9/10/18). For information on how this might affect consumers, see Lawsuit Threatens Affordable Care Act Preexisting Condition Protections But Impact Will Depend on Where You Live (Commonwealth Fund blog, 8/29/18).
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