The United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday declared Obamacare’s individual mandate is unconstitutional and remanded the case back to the district court to determine whether any part of Obamacare can remain in light of the mandate’s unconstitutionality.
“The Fifth Circuit’s holding is clear: the federal government cannot order private citizens to purchase subpar insurance products that they don’t want. The individual mandate is the centerpiece of Obamacare, and I am glad the Fifth Circuit recognized that it is unlawful. I look forward to demonstrating in district court that the rest of the law cannot stand without this central provision,” said Attorney General Ken Paxton. “Yesterday’s decision is a win for the rule of law. Finally being rid of this law will be a victory for all Americans.”
Obamacare consistently and unlawfully imposes rising costs on citizens and transfers an enormous amount of regulatory power to the federal government. In Texas and 38 other states where the federal government administers health exchanges, health insurance premiums rose an average of 105 percent from 2013 to 2017. Last year, around 82 percent of U.S. counties had only one or two health insurers selling coverage on the Obamacare exchanges.
When the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Obamacare in 2012, a majority of the justices agreed that Obamacare’s individual mandate was constitutional only because its accompanying tax penalty could justify forcing individuals to purchase health insurance under Congress’ taxing power. Devoid of that penalty, Obamacare’s intrusive individual mandate cannot be preserved as a tax, rendering Obamacare entirely unlawful.