Recognizing Unpopularity of Fully Overturning ACA, Trump Administration Hopes to Delay Ruling

According to the Washington Post, the White House intends to find a way for the courts to put any ruling on hold in regards to the lawsuit to overturn the Affordable Care Act (ACA). In fact, should the lawsuit make its way to the Supreme Court, the administration may try to delay the case until after the 2020 election. The revelation shows an admission to the unpopularity of the move to fully overturn the health care law. Worse, it proves Senator Kevin Cramer right when he admitted GOP leaders have no idea what will happen if the lawsuit succeeds and the ACA is completely overturned.

Recall in 2018, North Dakota’s Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem joined North Dakota to the lawsuit originating in Texas. Stenehjem has refused to tell the public who “asked” him to join the lawsuit. We do know North Dakota’s Insurance Commissioner Jon Godfread helped Stenehjem in the decision. The lawsuit was filed following the rushed 2017 tax reform eliminating the individual mandate to have health insurance.

The timing of the lawsuit made ACA a top 2018 campaign issue. When public pressure mounted against North Dakota’s Republican officials, they rushed to the podium to spread misleading claims on their health care records. The bottom line, they cannot run from what they’ve done, nor the facts. What happened in North Dakota? They all won their elections.

ND xPlains video from July 2019:

The 2018 election results in North Dakota didn’t happen nation-wide. Democrats took over the House in large part by focusing on health care. With 2020’s election looming, the Trump administration clearly doesn’t want the public’s focus to return to health care. So they hope to stall what would be the unpopular decision of overturning protections for people with pre-existing conditions, allowing people to stay on their parent’s insurance longer, and Medicaid Expansion.

Regardless of timing, the administration and Congressional Republicans own the uncertainty. They removed the individual mandate in their rushed 2017 tax reform. The removal of that provision led to the current lawsuit attempting to overthrow the entire health care law. The Department of Justice – in an unprecedented move – has refused to defend the federal law in court. On top of chipping away at the existing law, while they had complete control of the federal government they failed to create a replacement plan they had promised for years. The public won’t need a court decision in 2019 or 2020 to remember those facts.