Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill is calling a federal judge’s ruling that the Affordable Care Act was unconstitutional “a victory for all Americans who believe in the Constitution.”
A federal judge in Texas held Friday the Affordable Care Act’s individual coverage mandate is unconstitutional and that the rest of the law must also fall.
Hill was part of a coalition of 20 Republican Attorneys General that argued when Congress effectively eliminating the individual mandate penalty by reducing it to $0 as part of the 2017 tax cut bill, it removed the legal underpinning the Supreme Court relied upon when it upheld the law in 2012 under Congress’ tax power. The mandate required nearly all Americans to get health insurance or pay a penalty.
“From the beginning, the Affordable Care Act has represented federal overreach. Congress should never have imposed the one-size-fits-all mandate that now has been struck down as unconstitutional,” Hill said in a statement. “Moving forward, Congress should continue to play a strong role in promoting access to quality healthcare for all Americans. At the same time, however, it also must respect the authority of Indiana and all other states to exercise freedom in the ways we address the issue of health care for our own citizens.”
“At the state and national levels, then, let us all commit to developing sound policies that safeguard the healthcare needs of all individuals, including those with pre-existing conditions. And let us stay true to the Constitution as we pursue this mission,” he noted.
