West Virginia MetroNews – With the U.S. Supreme Court scheduled to hear oral arguments next month regarding former President Barack Obama’s health care law, a group of West Virginia organizations on Tuesday shared their concerns about what overturning the law could mean for the state. Read the full article.
The West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy, the West Virginia Citizen Action Education Fund, West Virginians for Affordable Health Care, and Cabin Creek Health Systems held a briefing about the legal challenge to “Obamacare” and the effects of justices possibly striking down the law.
The Supreme Court has scheduled arguments on the health care law for Nov. 10, a week after Election Day. Eighteen state attorneys general — including West Virginia’s Patrick Morrisey — and the U.S. Department of Justice argue “Obamacare” is unconstitutional because Congress reduced the health care law’s individual mandate to zero in the 2017 tax law. The plaintiffs additionally contend the provision is unseverable from the rest of the law.
“Those of us that are hosting this briefing have been talking about the possible consequences of a negative Court decision that overturns the health care law as ‘disaster preparedness,’” said Kelly Allen, the executive director of the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy.
“We think that is how everybody — families, health care providers, and our local, state and federal elected officials — needs to be thinking about this lawsuit as well.”
