They Don't Have A Leg To Stand On

 

“What right does Texas have to take away my insurance?”  I can’t tell you how many times my clients have asked me that question.  The Texas Lawsuit has weighed heavily on many of my clients, especially those with preexisting conditions.  The idea of eliminating the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and all of its protections with nothing, scared the daylights out of many of us.  Who would sell health insurance to someone with cancer?  Where would a pregnant woman, or even a family that wanted to have children, get covered?  The answer, of course, was to have faith that the system would not fail them.  Whether help would come from the State of Ohio, our elected representatives in Washington, or the Supreme Court, someone would step up and protect them.  Someone will do the right thing for them.  Have faith.  Be patient.  Don’t worry. 

To be clear, I may have had faith, but I was more than a little worried. 

Today, in a 7 – 2 ruling, the Supreme Court saved my clients and Obamacare for the third time.  As always, the best analysis of the decision was written by Amy Howe at ScotusBlog.  I strongly urge you to read her three page post. 

On June 17^th the Supreme Court ruled what many of us had suspected, neither the groups of states led by Texas nor the individuals challenging the mandate have a legal right to sue.  They didn’t have standing.  My attorney readers will enjoy both the way the decision was reached as well as that the majority included Chief Justice Roberts, Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Brett Kavanaugh, Clarence Thomas as well as the two remaining liberals.  The majority opinion was written by Justice Stephen Breyer.  An opinion that bridges the court’s extremes is guaranteed to surprise or confound the pundits.

There will be more challenges.  Since there are no problems in Texas, the Governor and Attorney General feel compelled to spend their time fighting to destroy our health care system.  And we can only hope that like this time, the Supreme Court will again tell them that they don’t have a leg to stand on. 

Dave 

www.cunixinsurance.com 

Picture – You Say Hello. I Say GOODBYE – Original batik by Batik by Amit