The Justice Department argued in federal court on Thursday that the individual mandate in the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, is unconstitutional. The department argued therefore that the regulations protecting individuals with pre-existing conditions should be struck down. Congressional Republicans included a provision in their tax-cuts legislation last year that scraps the mandate. “In sum, once the associated financial penalty is gone, the ‘tax’ saving construction will no longer be fairly possible and thus the individual mandate will be unconstitutional,” the department wrote.
