West Virginia Keeps Close Eye as Supreme Court Hears Obamacare Lawsuits
Mountain State keeps eye on proceedings
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CHARLESTON -- The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments Tuesday on whether to throw out the federal healthcare law or keep most of it -- a lawsuit being watched by opponents and supporters in West Virginia.
The Associated Press reported Tuesday that a majority of Supreme Court justices, including Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh -- appointed by two Republican presidents -- appeared reluctant to strike down the entirety of the Affordable Care Act.
The ACA -- also known as Obamacare for Democratic President Barack Obama -- was signed into law in 2010 with most of its provisions phased in by 2016. The ACA expanded health insurance coverage by expanding Medicaid coverage for people below the federal poverty level, premium tax credits to make health insurance more affordable, and marketplaces for people to apply for health insurance.
The healthcare law also requires all U.S. citizens to have health insurance, also called the individual mandate. The law has been argued before the Supreme Court previously, first in 2012 and 2015, which left the law intact. In the 2015 ruling, Roberts said the monetary penalty that issued fines for people without health insurance was a tax and left it in place. In 2017, Congress zeroed out the monetary penalty.
West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey is among 18 Republican state attorneys general along with the administration of President Donald Trump who filed suit against the Affordable Care Act after Congress eliminated the individual mandate penalty for not having health insurance. They argue that with the individual mandate penalty zeroed out, the entire law is unconstitutional. Roberts and Kavanaugh were skeptical of those arguments.
“I think it’s hard for you to argue that Congress intended the entire act to fall if the mandate were struck down when the same Congress that lowered the penalty to zero did not even try to repeal the rest of the act,” Roberts said in a transcript of the oral arguments released by the Supreme Court on Tuesday. “I think, frankly, that they wanted the court to do that. But that’s not our job.”
“It does seem fairly clear that the proper remedy would be to sever the mandate and leave the rest of the act in place,” Kavanaugh said.
In a statement on behalf of Morrisey on Tuesday, Communications Director Curtis Johnson said Morrisey supports removing the individual mandate and leaving the remainder of the law in place, despite being party to a lawsuit whose goal is a total repeal of ACA.
“To the contrary, no one will be left behind as many believe the Supreme Court will remove only the unconstitutional parts of Obamacare, thus furthering the Attorney General’s mission to lower the skyrocketing premium costs of Obamacare and strike down the unconstitutional individual mandate,” Johnson said.
During the 2020 legislative session, Morrisey pushed for a law to help protect people with pre-existing medical conditions from possibly losing their healthcare coverage if the high court threw out the entire ACA. The bill passed the West Virginia Senate, but later died in committee in the House of Delegates. Opponents of the bill claimed it created a high-risk pool, possibly raising health care premiums for people with pre-existing conditions.
“Attorney General Morrisey remains deeply committed to helping all West Virginians overcome the failings of Obamacare, chiefly its unmanageable, skyrocketing premiums and its unconstitutional individual mandate, while also ensuring health care coverage for those with pre-existing conditions – a commitment for which he vigorously pushed a state-based solution earlier this year,” Johnson said.
Morrisey’s support for the ACA lawsuit played a large role in his re-election for Attorney General. His Democratic opponent, Sam Brown Petsonk, campaigned against Morrisey and called for the state to remove itself from the lawsuit. Morrisey defeated Petsonk with 64 percent of the vote.
U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., also accused Morrisey of playing politics with West Virginians’ healthcare. Morrisey challenged Manchin in 2018 for his Senate seat, losing with just 46 percent of the vote. Manchin has frequently called on Morrisey to pull West Virginia from the lawsuit.
“It is clear Americans need healthcare coverage now more than ever,” Manchin said. “West Virginians may not remember who gave them access to healthcare, but they’ll certainly remember who took it away.”
According to 2018 numbers from the Kaiser Family Foundation, 44 percent of West Virginians have private insurance, 26 percent have Medicaid and 19 percent have Medicare. According to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, more than 800,000 West Virginians – or 52 percent of non-elderly state residents – have pre-existing conditions.
“While the ACA is not perfect, we simply can’t throw the baby out with the bath water,” Manchin said. “I firmly believe Congress can work in a bipartisan way to improve the affordability and flexibility of health insurance.
“Instead of continuing to attack access to healthcare, I urge more Republican lawmakers and Attorneys General to join with me and my Democrat colleagues to fix the parts of the ACA in need of repair,” Manchin continued. “Every West Virginian and American deserves access to quality, affordable health insurance and I will continue fighting in the Senate to protect that access.”