Halbig v. Burwell, the Healthcare mess

July 22nd has proven to be a major day for anyone tracking the Affordable Care Act closely. A federal appeals court just struck a 2-1 decision ruling that the federal government has crossed the line by granting subsidies to those who purchase coverage through healthcare.gov. These subsidies are restricted to being handed out in only 14 states which participate in these state run exchanges, the administration has still been handing out subsidies in the 36 states which are not involved.

A major theme which has risen through all of this is in regards to state regulation vs. that of the federal government. This was made clear as plaintiffs of the case claim these subsidies can only be issued by providers within the state exchanges. The federal government claims to have the authority to hand out these subsidies regardless of who is in control of them. 

The ruling is most likely going to be appealed which would eventually be reheard by all 11 of the appeals court judges. They would then vote on whether this case will be reversed or not. It is highly notable that of the 11 judges that would hear this appeal, 7 of them are democrats. This leads many to believe that there is a strong chance that this case could be reversed.

Many see this as a potential "lethal blow" to Obamacare as it has been repeatedly been questioned in the appeals court in the past few months, and seen several setbacks such as the Hobby Lobby ruling which decided religiously affiliated companies are not required to provide employees with plans involving birth control.

Senator Ted Cruz (R) responded to the decision this morning with a tweet "The D.C. Circuit's decision today in Halbig v. Burwell is a repudiation of Obamacare and all the lawlessness that has come with it."

Many are already looking ahead to see what will come next for the Obama administration as they continue to attempt to roll out a successful healthcare system which can please both sides of the spectrum. We shall see soon what will come of the appeals process for Obama
care.

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