If you like your Obamacare health plan, you can keep it -- at least for now.
A federal judge’s Friday evening ruling that the Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional was a first-round victory for opponents of the law. But it will need to survive review by higher courts to have any effect on the program that’s credited with expanding health insurance to about 19 million people in the U.S.
A crimson banner appeared on the federally run healthcare.gov website Friday night to reassure potential customers: “Court’s decision does not affect this season’s open enrollment.” People in 39 states have through the end of Saturday to sign up for coverage for next year, and longer in some states like New York and California.
The White House confirmed Friday that the law remains in effect pending appeal, even as President Trump suggested Congress start working on a replacement.
The ruling has “no impact to current coverage or coverage in a 2019 plan,” Seema Verma, the administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, tweeted late Friday.
Pressure will now be on Republicans, who have decried the ACA for years, to offer alternatives that won’t shut out sick people, as insurance markets routinely did before the ACA. Verma last month said she had “contingency plans” to protect people with pre-existing conditions, without offering details.
If the law were thrown out, it would likely harm the businesses of hospitals, some insurers and health-care providers who have gained millions of new paying customers thanks to the billions of dollars’ worth of subsidized health insurance coverage provided by the program.
Spencer Perlman, an analyst with Veda Partners, called an ultimate ruling striking down the law unlikely. If it did happen, however, “this outcome almost certainly would increase the number of the uninsured, which clearly is a headwind for providers,” Perlman said in a note to clients.
Overturned, In Theory
The opinion of federal Judge Reed O’Connor would be a shock to the health-care system, if it ever takes force. The ruling is written so that it won’t take effect immediately, giving higher courts time to consider the case.