Earlier this afternoon a federal judge in Texas ruled the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to be unconstitutional. (here) This is the first step in a legal process that will undoubtedly result in the case being heard by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Republican attorneys general from 19 states sued the federal government on the constitutionality of Obamacare. Their case is based on the fact that the major Congressional tax reform bill of 2017 eliminated the “tax” on Americans who do not own health insurance under the ACA. Without the penalty, the AGs claim that the entire law is unconstitutional. (here)

In 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a contorted five to four judgment that the penalty for not owning health insurance was a “tax.” Since the Constitution gives Congress the ability to tax Americans, the justices found the entire law was constitutional. The AG lawsuit uses the same legal logic to claim the ACA is now unconstitutional since the tax was eliminated by last year’s federal tax reform legislation.

The Democrats pushed the ACA through Congress without any Republican support or votes. In their haste, the law’s architects did not write in a severability clause. In other words, if any part of the law is found to be unconstitutional, the entire law becomes unconstitutional and void.

Attorneys general from blue states, including AG Ferguson in Washington state, will appeal the new ruling.

U.S. Chief Justice Roberts supported the ruling that the penalty for not owning health insurance was a tax and he provided the fifth vote on the ACA’s constitutionality. It would seem that he is now stuck with that opinion and will need to support the Texas federal judge’s ruling.

This decision could be the first step in meaningful health care reform. It is time to declare the ACA unworkable (and unconstitutional) and start over with free market ideas that put patients in charge of their own health care, not government bureaucrats. (here)