A federal appeals court has once again put the future of the Affordable Care Act in jeopardy, and this time it has managed to create a giant muddle. Rather than moving to overturn the law entirely—as Republicans want—or upholding the law entirely—as Democrats want—the Fifth Circuit kinda sorta ruled against Obamacare, but sent the key question of whether to overturn it entirely back to the lower court, where it will take a good long time to resolve. That means that we may go into the 2020 elections with this question hanging over us.
To The New York Times, this ruling “may spare Republicans some political pain” because it doesn’t provide a clear-cut reminder that Republicans want to take health coverage away from millions of people and have no plan to replace the current law. In the meantime, Republicans will continue to attack Democratic plans to improve and expand health coverage, without a high-profile court decision undermining them every step of the way.
That’s possible.
But Democrats should absolutely campaign on this case. It’s another case in which Republicans are trying to dismantle the popular protections of the Affordable Care Act. It’s creating major uncertainty about the future of health coverage in this country. It’s the kind of decision that Donald Trump is nominating more and more judges to deliver. Voters will care about this, if they hear about it.