KILL THE BILL

DOJ Moves to Strike Down Entire Affordable Care Act

Vastly expanding a previous challenge to the law’s pre-existing conditions protections.

The Department of Justice is moving to strike down the Affordable Care Act, according to a Monday legal filing cited by Axios. The move marks a significant legal change in the DOJ’s position: After a federal judge deemed the entire ACA unconstitutional in December, the Justice Department maintained that only certain parts of the law—including the individual mandate and the requirement to cover people with pre-existing conditions—had to be thrown out. But in the new filing, the department sided with the attorneys general who brought the initial lawsuit, arguing that the law needed to be scrapped entirely. Axios notes that dismantling the ACA would cause serious upheaval and would deprive millions of people of health insurance. The move is just the latest in a series of legal attacks on the law.

opinion

THINKABLE

Are Republicans Crazy Enough to Kill Obamacare Like This?

Michael Tomasky