House urges administration to reverse its position in ACA lawsuit

The House of Representatives today voted 240-186 to approve a resolution urging the administration to reverse its decision to seek to invalidate the Affordable Care Act in ongoing litigation. The resolution also calls on the administration to protect Americans with pre-existing conditions, seniors struggling with high prescription drug costs, and millions of Americans who have gained coverage under the ACA.
 
The Department of Justice last week told the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals that it should affirm a district court decision that struck down the entire ACA.
 
U.S. District Court Judge Reed O'Connor last year struck down the entire ACA because Congress repealed the tax penalty enforcing the law's individual mandate. Twenty-one Democratic attorneys general are appealing the ruling, and O'Connor has said that the law can stand during the appeal. The House has intervened to defend the ACA in the case, brought by 20 Republican-led states.
 
In a friend-of-the-court brief filed April 1, the AHA, along with the Federation of American Hospitals, The Catholic Health Association of the United States, America’s Essential Hospitals, and the Association of American Medical Colleges urged the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to reject the district court decision.
 
Twenty-four state hospital associations also urged the Fifth Circuit to reverse the decision.