Health Care

The Fight to Protect Health Care Reform

Health Care rally Republican congressional leaders have launched a sustained attack against the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the landmark health reform law enacted last year. While GOP leaders have attempted to repeal the ACA outright, the real effort is aimed at defunding the law and at dismantling it piece-by-piece. Recently, the House approved a federal spending bill for the current fiscal year that prohibits the administration from spending any funds to implement the law, such as providing tax credits to small employers to help them purchase coverage. House GOP leaders are also drafting bills that would repeal specific provisions in the law. For now, these measures will be met with resistance by the Senate, where Democratic leaders have resisted efforts to weaken the law.

Five different federal district court judges have ruled on the merits of constitutional challenges to the Affordable Care Act’s requirement that individuals have coverage beginning in 2014, or face a tax penalty, except where there is a financial hardship. Three of the judges ruled that the law is constitutional, while two have ruled that it is not. The cases will make their way to the circuit courts and eventually to the U.S. Supreme Court.

What it Means for You »