Alanta Business Chronicle - Federal Court Judge Sides with Republicans in Obamacare Ruling

Op-Ed

By Dave Williams

Congressional Republicans have won a major court victory in their long-running fight against Obamacare.

A Washington, D.C.-based federal court judge ruled Thursday that the Obama administration cannot reimburse insurance companies for subsidies they provide millions of low-income Americans to pay out-of-pocket health care expenses without an appropriation from Congress. If the decision is upheld, it could drive insurance costs higher by denying the subsidies to eligible patients.

"This historic decision ... reasserts Congress' power of the purse as defined by our nation's founders," said U.S. Rep. Tom Price, R-Roswell, chairman of the House Budget Committee.

"In recent weeks, we've seen insurers announce that they will exit the exchange markets in 2017, further deteriorating patients' access and choice to health care plans that they want. This is yet again proof that Obamacare is on an unsustainable path, and House Republicans must remain committed to repealing and replacing this law."

The GOP majority in the House has voted 62 times to repeal the Affordable Care Act since a then-Democratic Congress passed the law in 2010. However, none of those attempts have made it through the Senate, let alone reach President Barack Obama's desk for a certain veto.

The Obama administration is expected to appeal Thursday's ruling to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.

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