CONGRESS/COURTS/GOP/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/OBAMACARE/PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The Justice Department won’t defend major provisions in the Affordable Care Act and is asking a federal court to strike down key elements of the law, a new blow to the health law and the stability of the individual insurance market. The department, in a brief it filed Thursday [6-7-18] in a lawsuit brought by 20 state attorneys general, asks the court to halt ACA protections that Republicans in Congress sought to preserve when they attempted to repeal the health law. The provisions targeted by the Justice Department include the bans on insurers denying coverage and charging higher rates to people with pre-existing health conditions. The department is also seeking to roll back limits on how much insurers can charge people based on gender and age. The decision to attack the ACA in this way involves a legal, political and policy gamble by the Trump administration, suggesting how much the president still wants to dismantle his predecessor’s signature health law after a failed ACA repeal effort by Republicans a year ago. The move could rattle the insurance markets and shake up the GOP message on health care months before the midterm elections.”
-Stephanie Armour, “Justice Department Won’t Defend Affordable Care Act in Lawsuit Brought by States,” The Wall Street Journal, June 7, 2018 11:24 pm