Michigan 
is 
joining 
a 
coalition of 17 Democratic 
attorneys 
general 
fighting 
to appeal a Texas district 
court 
decision 
that 
ruled 
the 
Affordable 
Care 
Act 
unconstitutional.
 
In 
her 
announcement, 
Michigan Attorney General 
Dana Nessel said Michigan has 
a strong interest in protecting 
the Affordable Care Act.
 
“The 
Affordable 
Care 
Act 
provides 
important 
protections 
– 
including 
protecting people with pre-
existing 
conditions 
– 
and 
access to health care for 
hundreds of thousands of 
residents in Michigan,” Nessel 
wrote.
 Nessel’s decision to join 
the lawsuit came in light of 
her 
decision 
to 
withdraw 
Michigan from eight lawsuits 
former Attorney General Bill 
Schuette entered the state in.
 
The 
lawsuit 
seeks 
to 
overrule a decision made in 
December brought forth by 18 

Republican attorneys general 
and 
two 
GOP 
governors. 
The 
lawsuit 
struck 
down 
the entire Affordable Care 
Act on the basis that its 
mandate 
requiring 
people 
to buy health insurance was 
unconstitutional. 
President 
Donald 
Trump’s 
tax 
plan 
eliminated 
the 
individual 
mandate last year.
 Peter Jacobson, health law 
and policy professor, said he 
expects the Texas decision 
to be overruled, meaning a 
victory for the Democratic 
attorneys general.
 “I suspect that the Fifth 
Circuit Court of Appeals will 
overturn the judge’s decision 
even though it’s a conservative 
court,” Jacobson said. “I think 
that the legal arguments that 
Texas and its supporters are 
making are not compelling. 
The particular challenge in 
the Texas case has always 
struck me as being more about 
politics than law.”
 
The 
expansive 
health 
care coverage has generally 
seen bipartisan support from 
Michigan. 
Not 
long 
after 

the Affordable Care Act was 
originally 
passed, 
former 
Gov. Rick Snyder passed a 
controversial 
expansion 
of 
Medicaid, 
voicing 
support 
for getting more Michigan 
residents covered. Jacobson 
agreed the Affordable Care Act 
has been generally beneficial 
for Michigan residents, citing 
research from the University 
of 
Michigan’s 
Center 
for 
Health 
and 
Research 
Transformation.
 “We have fewer people 
lacking 
health 
insurance 
and the state has benefited 
economically,” Jacobson said. 
“Studies from the University 
show that the state has spent 
less money than anticipated 
and the availability of health 
insurance 
has 
actually 
improved 
the 
economy. 
As 
a 
result, 
Michigan’s 
involvement (in the lawsuit) 
is really an investment in 
maintaining those benefits.”
 
LSA 
sophomore 
Dylan 
Berger, 
president 
of 
the 
University’s 
Chapter 
of 
College 
Republicans, 
said 
although 
he 
believes 
the 
Affordable Care Act has 
many shortcomings that 
Michigan needs to address, 
the law should not be 
challenged in court.
“Since 
its 
passage, 
insurance 
costs 
and 
deductibles have increased 
for most Americans while 
quality 
has 
worsened,” 
Berger, 
who 
is 
also 
a 
columnist for The Daily, 
said. “In the meantime, 
however, the Affordable 
Care Act is the law of 
the 
land 
and 
shouldn’t 
be challenged in court. 
Without a well thought 
out 
replacement 
plan, 
repealing the Affordable 
Care 
Act 
would 
be 
disastrous.”
 Law School professor 
Nicholas 
Bagley, 
a 
prominent 
Affordable 
Care 
Act 
researcher, 
said 
attorneys 
general 
normally wouldn’t have to 
worry about defending a 
congressional statute –– 
such a task is the job of the 
U.S. Justice Department. 
But because the Justice 

Department hasn’t taken a 
stand on the legality of the 
Affordable Care Act, Bagley 
said states were forced to step 
in.
 “The Trump administration 
made the politically motivated 
decision not to defend the law, 
even though the case against 
the ACA’s constitutionality 
is really weak,” Bagley said. 
“Because 
the 
law 
would 
otherwise lack someone to 
defend it, California and a 
group of blue states intervened 
in the lawsuit. And they’ve 
now 
appealed 
the 
Texas 
district court’s decision.”
 However, Bagley said the 
involvement of Michigan in 
the lawsuit won’t likely have 
large ramifications.
 “Attorney General Nessel 
wants to signal her support for 
the law’s defenders,” Baglesy 
said. “It won’t make much 
of a practical difference. The 
other blue states are already 
involved 
in 
the 
lawsuit, 
whether Michigan jumps in or 
not, but it’s putting Michigan 
firmly on the side of the ACA’s 
supporters.”
 
Public 
Policy 
senior 
Kellie 
Lounds, 
chair 
of 
the University’s chapter of 
College Democrats, is among 
such supporters, and said she 
is grateful for an attorney 
general who will protect the 
Affordable Care Act.
 “We (College Democrats) 
are thrilled to have an attorney 
general 
who’s 
actually 
acting in the best interest of 
Michigan residents,” Lounds 
said.
 However, the fight to 
appeal the Texas decision 
will not surely end in victory 
for 
Democrats, 
in 
which 
case the Affordable Care Act 
would be brought before the 
Supreme Court for the third 
time. Although the newly 
constituted Supreme Court 
now has five conservative 
justices, Jacobson said he 
is still confident the Texas 
decision would be appealed.
 “I’m dubious that Chief 
Justice Roberts would uphold 
the Texas law,” Jacobson said. 
“I think that the political 
fallout to the court would be 
damaging.”

2 — Friday, February 8, 2019
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
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QUOTE OF THE WE E K 

“
I’ve charged the commission with designing long-
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University President Mark Schlissel in his announcement of the President’s Commission on Carbon Neutrality

Michigan Attorney General participates 
in coalition to support Affordable Care Act
17 Democratic attorneys general fight to appeal Texas district court decision

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