Another month, another legal challenge to Obamacare

Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court denied a request to hear a case brought by two medical organizations challenging the individual mandate under the Affordable Care Act. In this case, the challengers, the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) and the Alliance for Natural Health USA, were appealing a dismissal of their claims by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. The Appeals Court had relied on the Supreme Court's 2012 ruling that the individual mandate is valid as a tax.

It is somewhat surprising that an organization composed of physicians and surgeons would challenge the mandate. One of the AAPS's main goals is to stop Obamacare, reasoning that the law will bring about the end of private medicine and will destroy individual practice.  However, the largest physician organization in the country, the American Medical Association, supported the law, reasoning that an increase in the number of people with insurance coverage would mean fuller reimbursement.

While this case may not produce much in the way of groundbreaking precedent, some have begun to speculate about whether it sheds any light on another upcoming Supreme Court case. That case, King v. Burwell, is likely to be decided in June and will determine whether individuals living in states that use the federal exchange will be eligible to receive tax subsidies for purchasing insurance. Obamacare supporters hope that the Court's refusal to hear the AAPS challenge reflects an intention to stick with its earlier support of the ACA.

For now, this new case maintains the legal status quo - the individual mandate to maintain insurance coverage is the law. But stay tuned for the next chapter in the Obamacare legal saga.

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Matthew Maughan is a third year student at the Thomas R. Kline School of Law at Drexel University concentrating in health law.

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