Supreme Court docket closes Georgia and different states’ lawsuit towards Obamacare

Georgia and more than a dozen other states argued that the Affordable Care Act harmed them because it resulted in increased costs, including their state Medicaid programs. the_burtons / Getty Images

Healthcare advocates hailed a US Supreme Court decision Thursday denying a challenge to the Affordable Care Act of Texas and more than a dozen other GOP-led states, including Georgia.

The judges ruled by a 7-2 majority that the states failed to challenge the constitutionality of former President Barack Obama’s Health Bill. The states had argued that the law harmed them because it led to increased costs, including their state Medicaid programs.

Thursday’s ruling, backed by two former President Donald Trump nominees for the bank, was the third major legal challenge to the 2010 law to fail in the nation’s highest court.

At stake was the health care of more than 21 million people nationwide who had secured themselves through the market.

In Georgia, more than half a million people enrolled in health insurance this year, with 88% receiving assistance in reducing monthly premiums or other personal expenses, according to patient advocacy group Georgians for a Healthy Future. Tens of thousands more have enrolled during an ongoing special enrollment period due to the pandemic ending August 15.

Georgia has one of the highest uninsured rates in the country, with approximately 13% of the state’s residents having no insurance coverage, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

“While we were disappointed that such a frivolous lawsuit went on for so long, we hope this will be the last attempt to repeal the law that provides quality, affordable coverage for hundreds of thousands of Georgians,” said Whitney Griggs, health policy analyst at Georgians for a Healthy Future, said in a statement.

At the heart of the case was whether or not all of the law should be abolished altogether after Congress decided in 2017 to abolish the financial penalty for most Americans who do not get health insurance, a provision known as an individual mandate. The states filed their lawsuit in 2018.

“The state plaintiffs have not shown that the contested minimum income, with no prospect of penalty, will harm them by attracting more individuals to enroll in these programs,” said Judge Stephen G. Breyer, appointed by President Bill Clinton wrote in the opinion.

Breyer questioned the impact of the provision without penalty. “A penalty may have resulted in some inertia individuals signing up. But what incentive could the provision without penalty provide? he wrote.

Judges Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch disagreed.

Georgia Republican Attorney General Chris Carr said in a statement Thursday that the group of states “had a strong feeling that the Court of Auditors was unconstitutional.”

“While we’re disappointed that the court refused to consider the merits of the case, we will respect the court’s decision,” said Carr. “I stand by my promise to make sure we have the world-class healthcare system that all Georgians and our nation truly deserve.”

Carr’s role in the high-profile health bill challenge is likely to emerge when he is bid for re-election next year.

“It is high time this Republican-led war on healthcare came to an end,” said Staci Fox, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Southeast Advocates. “This is another reminder of why elections are important and why we need to keep pushing for healthcare champions who stand up for people, not politics.”

At least two Democrats, Senator Jen Jordan and 2018 nominee Charlie Bailey, have announced campaigns; both were quick to criticize Carr’s involvement in the lawsuit following Thursday’s ruling.

And stakeholders used Thursday’s ruling as an opportunity to renew their calls for state lawmakers to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. The state’s GOP leaders have long classified traditional Medicaid expansion as potentially too costly.

Georgia is one of a dozen or so bulky states that have expanded eligibility to low-income adults without children, despite Congress sweetening financial incentives in March.

“To continue to ensure Georgians have access to medical care, leaders should immediately benefit from increased federal support for the expansion of Medicaid and expand coverage to more than 500,000 people across our state, while Congress is looking for additional solutions seeks how to further expand health insurance premium tax credits that will enable more Georgians to afford coverage, “Laura Harker, senior policy analyst at the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute, said in a statement.

Republican Governor Brian Kemp is instead pushing his proposal to expand Medicaid slightly after a federal agency stated requirements that an individual must complete 80 hours of work or other activities to qualify.

US Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock said this week that he continues to work on legislation that would create a workaround for the state’s opposition to Medicaid’s expansion.

“We want legislation in the near future that enables Georgian taxpayers to access their own money,” Warnock said in a virtual press conference on Wednesday. “Georgian taxpayers don’t get a refund because Georgia’s politicians refuse to expand Medicaid … We are now subsidizing health care in other states.”