Louisiana has joined a multistate lawsuit seeking to overturn the Affordable Care Act, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Twenty state attorney generals have signed on as plaintiffs, arguing that former President Barack Obama’s signature health care law is unconstitutional now that Congress has repealed its tax-based penalty—or individual mandate—on those who don’t have health insurance. The individual mandate required most people to have health coverage or pay a penalty.
Congressional Republicans late last year ended the penalty starting in 2019. The requirement to have insurance technically remains, though it is unenforceable without the penalty.
The states note the Supreme Court ruled the mandate constitutional in 2012 because the penalty fell within Congress’s taxation powers. The removal of that penalty, they argue, renders the mandate unconstitutional and the broader law invalid.
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