# "Supreme Court to hear latest challenge to the Affordable Care Act" **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 10, 2020, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supreme-court-to-hear-latest-challenge-to-the-affordable-care-act/925227 "2020-11-10T15:29:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2020, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supreme-court-to-hear-latest-challenge-to-the-affordable-care-act/925227/1 "2020-11-10T15:29:33Z")
In better times, this topic wouldn’t belong here, but today the ACA is All Politics All the Time. > **[Supreme Court appears ready to uphold Affordable Care Act over latest...](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/11/10/scotus-hearing-aca-live-updates/)** > > The court is reviewing a decision that found part of the law, also known as Obamacare, unconstitutional. The case raises questions about the fate of health insurance for millions of Americans. > The Supreme Court on Tuesday will review the [latest Republican challenge to the Affordable Care Act](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/supreme-court-will-once-again-consider-fate-of-affordable-care-act/2020/03/02/40e08a62-5c90-11ea-b014-4fafa866bb81_story.html?itid=lk_inline_manual_2), reviving the partisan battle over health care that was central to the presidential contest and the confirmation of the newest justice, [Amy Coney Barrett](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/barrett-supreme-court-trump/2020/09/26/20863794-feac-11ea-830c-a160b331ca62_story.html?itid=lk_inline_manual_2). > > Audio of the hearing is being streamed live on The Washington Post’s homepage, and a team of journalists is reporting developments as they unfold. > > The court is reviewing a decision that found part of the law, also known as Obamacare, unconstitutional. The case raises questions about the fate of health insurance for millions of Americans, including the popular provision on preexisting health problems. > > The lawsuit was brought by Republican state officials and is backed by President Trump’s administration, which has prioritized abolishing the law. A decision is not expected from the court until the spring or summer of 2021. > … The absurdity of doing this during a raging pandemic defies comprehension. But there ya go. The latest challenge has been brought by Texans. [https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/Texas-officials-make-case-abolish-ACA-health-care-15714204.php](https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/Texas-officials-make-case-abolish-ACA-health-care-15714204.php) As I read this, I see things that people reasonably object to in the ACA. But dismantle the whole thing? > If the court were to scrap the health care law, some 21 million Americans, including 788,000 Texans, could lose insurance, according to recent [estimates](https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/103072/the-potential-effects-of-a-supreme-court-decision-to-overturn-the-affordable-care-act-updated-estimates_01.pdf) by the Urban Institute, a D.C.-based think tank. More than **5 million Texans are already uninsured, the most in the nation.** My bold. Go Texans. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2020, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supreme-court-to-hear-latest-challenge-to-the-affordable-care-act/925227/2 "2020-11-10T16:13:26Z")
If they spent half as much time on thinking about how to replace or improve the ACA as it stands as they do on trying to tear it down, we might have the most amazingly great health care plan in this country. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2020, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supreme-court-to-hear-latest-challenge-to-the-affordable-care-act/925227/3 "2020-11-10T16:14:16Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > If they spent half as much time on thinking about how to replace or improve the ACA as it stands as they do on trying to tear it down, we might have the most amazingly great health care plan in this country. - Give 'em a couple of weeks. ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2020, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supreme-court-to-hear-latest-challenge-to-the-affordable-care-act/925227/4 "2020-11-10T16:54:21Z")
If SCOTUS overturns ACA, I wonder how many GOP voters will be gobsmacked when their premiums for covering pre-existing conditions quadruple. How many will say “That’s OK, that’s how a free market should work,” and how many will find a way to blame Obama and/or Biden? ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2020, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supreme-court-to-hear-latest-challenge-to-the-affordable-care-act/925227/5 "2020-11-10T17:01:52Z")
Time for single-payer. ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2020, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supreme-court-to-hear-latest-challenge-to-the-affordable-care-act/925227/6 "2020-11-10T17:25:26Z")
Do you mean SCOTUS overturning ACA will be some sort of springboard toward single payer? Did you happen to see the news last week about the GOP (likely) retaining control of the Senate? The ACA isn’t great, but it’s all we’ve got for the foreseeable future. The alternative is what we had pre-2009. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2020, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supreme-court-to-hear-latest-challenge-to-the-affordable-care-act/925227/7 "2020-11-10T17:52:02Z")
So from oral arguments today it seemed that both Justice Roberts and Justice Kavanaugh were skeptical that Congress’s decision to end the individual mandate penalty was a desire to kill the entire law. Kavanaugh especially seemed to think this was a clear case of severability. ---
**Author:** ![Mike\_Mabes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mike_mabes/32/1782_2.png) [@Mike\_Mabes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike_Mabes)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2020, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supreme-court-to-hear-latest-challenge-to-the-affordable-care-act/925227/8 "2020-11-10T19:03:52Z")
Was just reading about that. Many details here > **[Supreme Court appears to signal Obamacare will survive latest GOP challenge |...](https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/10/politics/supreme-court-obamacare-oral-arguments/index.html)** > > Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh suggested Tuesday that it wasn't the Supreme Court's role to invalidate the entire sprawling, 900-page Affordable Care Act, even if one or more provisions are deemed unconstitutional, signaling... ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2020, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supreme-court-to-hear-latest-challenge-to-the-affordable-care-act/925227/9 "2020-11-10T20:00:36Z")
Well, that’s going to disappoint a few Republicans. (Lookin’ at you, Mitch.) And after they bought and paid for what they thought was a perfectly good Supreme Court, too! Somebody needs to get fired over this. Is there anyone left to _get_ fired? ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2020, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supreme-court-to-hear-latest-challenge-to-the-affordable-care-act/925227/10 "2020-11-10T20:06:21Z")
This surprises me. I had assumed they had delayed until after the election because they were afraid their decision would affect the election and damage their party. Oh well, live and learn. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2020, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supreme-court-to-hear-latest-challenge-to-the-affordable-care-act/925227/11 "2020-11-10T20:16:33Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Well, that’s going to disappoint a few Republicans. (Lookin’ at you, Mitch.) And after they bought and paid for what they thought was a perfectly good Supreme Court, too! Somebody needs to get fired over this. Is there anyone left to _get_ fired? That was always the interesting thing about Justice Kavanaugh. He was fairly moderate on the bench EXCEPT for executive power - which is what Trump probably found the most appealing. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2020, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supreme-court-to-hear-latest-challenge-to-the-affordable-care-act/925227/12 "2020-11-10T20:23:06Z")
> [@Akaj](#): > > I wonder how many GOP voters will be gobsmacked when their premiums for covering pre-existing conditions quadruple. Or just loose their coverage altogether. Maybe not finding out about their lost coverage until they need it. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2020, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supreme-court-to-hear-latest-challenge-to-the-affordable-care-act/925227/13 "2020-11-10T20:32:01Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > Or just loose their coverage altogether.- > > Maybe not finding out about their lost coverage until they need it.- They’ll blame Obama. Or Biden. “Biden got elected, and the first thing that happened was he canceled your insurance!” ---
**Author:** ![Kearsen1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Kearsen1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kearsen1)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2020, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supreme-court-to-hear-latest-challenge-to-the-affordable-care-act/925227/14 "2020-11-10T20:33:45Z")
Why hasn’t someone come up with such a plan? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2020, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supreme-court-to-hear-latest-challenge-to-the-affordable-care-act/925227/15 "2020-11-10T20:38:24Z")
The obvious answer is that governing is _hard work_. It’s lot easier to throw bombs from the outside than it is to actually work on the inside to improve people’s lives. As P.J. O’Rourke said, “Republicans are the party that says government doesn’t work, and then they get elected and prove it.” ---
**Author:** ![Kearsen1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Kearsen1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kearsen1)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2020, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supreme-court-to-hear-latest-challenge-to-the-affordable-care-act/925227/16 "2020-11-10T20:46:19Z")
I mean sure that is the easy excuse. The bottom line is that a healthy majority of people would LOVE to have universal care or some form of it. If the ACA gets struck down, it isn’t like it is a giant surprise and both parties should have been working together on something the entire time. Bunch of lazy fat rich punks. They do need to make sure that it is good enough to put all politicians on the plan as well. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2020, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supreme-court-to-hear-latest-challenge-to-the-affordable-care-act/925227/17 "2020-11-10T20:50:32Z")
The ACA is the most conservative plan that could cover everyone. If you want to cover everyone, and include insurance companies, you have to make it required that they cover everyone fairly. You want to encourage healthy people to sign up, so you make it a mandate (which was struck down), or at least provide subsidies for people who need it. You require companies (larger than some lower limit) to provide insurance, which is another way of getting people to sign up. You expand medicaid for people who don’t have jobs or are too poor to get insurance on their own. That’s it. That’s the Affordable Care Act. Anything more than that would be SOCIALISM!!! Either single player (like Medicare or Canada) or single provider (like the VA or the UK). The ACA was the most private-sector friendly, most conservative possible plan that would get everyone covered. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2020, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supreme-court-to-hear-latest-challenge-to-the-affordable-care-act/925227/18 "2020-11-10T20:50:55Z")
It’s been ten years since the ACA was passed and Republicans have told us over and over that they’re going to replace it with a great new plan. I look forward to seeing what that is and I expect to hear about it, perhaps right after we land someone on Mars. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2020, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supreme-court-to-hear-latest-challenge-to-the-affordable-care-act/925227/19 "2020-11-10T20:52:52Z")
Two. Weeks. ---
**Author:** ![Kearsen1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Kearsen1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kearsen1)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2020, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supreme-court-to-hear-latest-challenge-to-the-affordable-care-act/925227/20 "2020-11-10T20:52:56Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > It’s been ten years since the ACA was passed and Republicans have told us over and over that they’re going to replace it with a great new plan. I look forward to seeing what that is and I expect to hear about it, perhaps right after we land someone on Mars. Instead of playing the blame game, we have all known the potential for it to be struck down was there. Everyone should have been working on it. Also, it is going to cost money, a lot more money than previous, the message needs to be right to get people on board. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supreme-court-to-hear-latest-challenge-to-the-affordable-care-act/925227.md?page=2)