20 States Sue To Have ACA Declared Unconstitutional

Republicans in Congress were unable to abolish the Affordable Care Act, so a group of 20 states is filing suit in an attempt to declare the ACA unconstitutional.

The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of Texas, alleges that since the GOP eliminated the tax penalty associated with the individual mandate, the ACA itself is no longer constitutional.

The Supreme Court ruled in 2012 that the individual mandate was constitutional because Congress has the power to levy taxes. The lawsuit points to that part of the ruling in its argument that the law is no longer constitutional.

The Republican tax law eliminated the ACA's tax penalty, without eliminating the mandate itself.

"What remains, then, is the individual mandate, without any accompanying exercise of Congress’s taxing power, which the Supreme Court already held that Congress has no authority to enact,” the complaint states.

The goal of the lawsuit is to repeal the health care law so that Republicans can replace it, said Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

Susan Rupe is managing editor for InsuranceNewsNet. She formerly served as communications director for an insurance agents' association and was an award-winning newspaper reporter and editor. Contact her at Susan.Rupe@innfeedback.com. Follow her on Twitter @INNsusan.

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Susan Rupe is editor in chief, magazine, for InsuranceNewsNet. She formerly served as communications director for an insurance agents' association and was an award-winning newspaper reporter and editor. Contact her at susan.rupe@innfeedback.com.