Small-business plaintiffs say the government is treating all 50 states the same even though Congress allowed them to opt out – and 36 did
The IRS is granting insurance subsidies to taxpayers in the 'refusenik' states, even though the text of the Obamacare law doesn't allow it
A federal judge denied the government's motion to dismiss the case on Tuesday
He also refused, however, to issue an injunction barring the Obama administration from implementing the law while the case moves forward
Daily Mail
By DAVID MARTOSKO, U.S. POLITICAL EDITOR
PUBLISHED: 14:27 EST, 22 October 2013 | UPDATED: 15:05 EST, 22 October 2013
A federal judge on Tuesday refused to dismiss a case that could fatally cripple the Obamacare health insurance law.
The Affordable Care Act forbids the federal government from enforcing the law in any state that opted out of setting up its own health care exchange, according to a group of small businesses whose lawsuit got a key hearing Monday in federal court.
The Obama administration, according to their lawsuit, has ignored that language in the law, enforcing all of its provisions even in states where the federal government is operating the insurance marketplaces on the error-plagued Healthcare.gov website.
Thirty-six states chose not to set up their exchanges, a move that effectively froze Washington, D.C. out of the authority to pay subsidies and other pot-sweeteners to convince citizens in those states to buy medical insurance.
But the IRS overstepped its authority by paying subsidies in those states anyway, say the businesses and their lawyers.
The subsidies serve as a trigger that determines who has to comply with the now-famous individual and employer mandates. So, the lawsuit claims, the Obama administration illegally enforced the Affordable Care Act – suddenly making millions of taxpayers and small employers subject to paying fines if they don't play ball.
The Affordable Care Act authorizes subsidies only for policies purchased 'through an Exchange established by the State.'
A different section of the law empowers the federal government to set up its own exchanges for each state that chose not establish one.
Flood of cancellation notices despite Obama's promise
WND
To the shock of consumers who believed President Obama’s promise that they could keep their health-insurance plans if they liked them, hundreds of thousands of cancellation notices have been issued since August, according to Kaiser Health News, a service of the health insurance giant Kaiser Permanente.
The letters are going to people who buy their own coverage, which has frustrated many who want to keep what they have and has forced others to buy more costly policies.
The insurers explain that the policies are not in alignment with requirements of Obama’s Affordable Care Act that take effect Jan. 1
Most of the insurers are ending policies sold after the law passed in March 2010.
Some are canceling plans sold to people with pre-existing medical conditions. Obamacare forbids insurers from rejecting applicants with pre-existing conditions or charging them higher prices.
Kaiser Health News said an estimated 14 million people purchase their own coverage because they don’t get it through their jobs.
KHN offered several examples:
Florida Blue is terminating about 300,000 policies, about 80 percent of its individual policies in the state.
Kaiser Permanente in California has sent notices to 160,000 people, about half of its individual business.
Insurer Highmark in Pittsburgh is dropping about 20 percent of its individual market customers.
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Reposted with permission.
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