California Attorney General Xavier Becerra has vowed to fight a federal court’s ruling that penalties for not having health insurance are unconstitutional.
The ruling came via a lawsuit designed to repeal the Affordable Care Act. The Dec. 18 decision by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the so-called individual mandate previously used by Obamacare was an unconstitutional tax. President Trump succeeded in removing the penalty.
California reinstated the penalty for residents who are uninsured, effective with the 2020 tax year. The policy is designed to prop up its largely successful Obamacare operation, Covered California.
“For now, the president got the gift he wanted — uncertainty in the healthcare system and a pathway to repeal — so that the healthcare that seniors, workers and families secured under the Affordable Care Act can be yanked from under them,” said Becerra (pictured). “So close to the holidays, our nation may have just taken a giant step backwards.”
“California will move swiftly to challenge this decision, because this could mean the difference between life and death for so many Americans and their families,” Becerra said.
Other states with individual mandates are New Jersey, Vermont, Rhode Island and Massachusetts, as well as the District of Columbia.
The Affordable Care Act debate is expected to reach the Supreme Court.
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