A divided federal appeals court on Wednesday threw a lifeline to the Affordable Care Act, asking a lower court judge to reconsider his decision invalidating the entire law even as it declared the individual mandate unconstitutional.

The decision, by a two-to-one vote on the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, means prolonged uncertainty for the nation’s health care system and the millions of Americans who rely on the law. But it will have little immediate practical impact for beneficiaries or those without health insurance.

Preexisting condition protections and Obamacare insurance subsidies remain in place, for now, as the case continues.

“The individual mandate is unconstitutional because it can no longer be read as a tax, and there is no other constitutional provision that justifies this exercise of congressional power,” reads the majority opinion from the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.

The panel also asked a Texas district court judge, who had struck down the entire health law in a sweeping decision late last year, “to explain with more precision” whether and why the rest of the law should not stand.

“For now, the President got the gift he wanted — uncertainty in the healthcare system and a pathway to repeal,” said California Attorney General Xavier Beccera, who is leading a coalition of 20 states defending the law.

“This decision could take us to a dangerous and irresponsible place, not just for the 133 million Americans with pre-existing conditions, but for our seniors who use Medicare, our children under the age of 26, and the 20 million additional Americans covered directly through the ACA marketplace,” Beccera said, announcing plans to appeal. Read more

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A divided federal appeals court on Wednesday threw a lifeline to the Affordable Care Act, asking a lower court judge to reconsider his decision invalidating the entire law even as it declared the individual mandate unconstitutional.