Trump welcomes decision in which judge agreed with 20 states challenging the law, on the eve of the 2019 sign-up deadline

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

A US federal judge in Texas ruled on Friday that the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, is unconstitutional – a decision likely to be appealed to the supreme court.

The US district judge Reed O’Connor in Fort Worth agreed with a coalition of 20 states that a change in tax law last year eliminating a penalty for not having health insurance invalidated the entire ACA.

O’Connor’s decision was issued the day before the end of a 45-day sign-up period for 2019 health coverage under the law.

About 11.8 million consumers nationwide enrolled in 2018 ACA exchange plans, according to the US government’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

The coalition of states challenging the law was led by the Texas attorney general, Ken Paxton, and the Wisconsin attorney general, Brad Schimel, both Republicans.

Republicans have opposed the 2010 law, the signature domestic policy achievement of Barack Obama, since its inception and have repeatedly tried and failed to repeal it.

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The White House hailed Friday’s ruling but said the law would remain in place pending its expected appeal to the supreme court. “Once again, the president calls on Congress to replace Obamacare and act to protect people with pre-existing conditions and provide Americans with quality affordable healthcare,” the White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said in a statement.

On Twitter on Friday night, Donald Trump celebrated the decision, calling the ACA an “unconstitutional disaster”.

“Great news for America!” he added.

Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) Wow, but not surprisingly, ObamaCare was just ruled UNCONSTITUTIONAL by a highly respected judge in Texas. Great news for America!

Democrats were quick to condemn the judge’s decision. Nancy Pelosi, poised to be the next House speaker, said it “exposes the monstrous endgame of the GOP’s all-out assault on people w/ pre-existing conditions”.

Nancy Pelosi (@NancyPelosi) Tonight’s absurd ruling exposes the monstrous endgame of the GOP’s all-out assault on people w/ pre-existing conditions & the ACA. When @HouseDemocrats take the gavel, the House will swiftly intervene in the appeals process to #ProtectOurCare! https://t.co/EJxrToGA7V pic.twitter.com/xGjKWrdQOD

The Democratic senator Chris Murphy, a member of the US Senate health, education, labor, and pensions (Help) Committee, criticized the decision in a statement late on Friday.

“This is a five-alarm fire – Republicans just blew up our healthcare system,” he said. “The anti-healthcare zealots in the Republican party are intentionally ripping health care away from the working poor, increasing costs on seniors, and making insurance harder to afford for people with pre-existing conditions.”

In June, the justice department declared the healthcare law’s “individual mandate” unconstitutional in federal court. The decision was a break with a longstanding executive branch practice of defending existing statutes in court.

A year ago, Trump signed a $1.5tn tax bill that included a provision eliminating the individual mandate.