In December 2018, a federal judge ruled that the entire Affordable Care Act (ACA) is invalid due to the elimination of the individual mandate in 2019. Following this ruling, the judge issued a stay and partial final judgement, thus allowing the ACA to remain in place pending an appeal. Recently, the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a letter agreeing with the court’s ruling. This letter is only a response to the initial ruling and does not have an effect until all responses and appeals are submitted in mid-May 2019. Following this, oral arguments will be scheduled which will be followed by a decision on the appeal. However, many people believe this case will likely be taken up by the Supreme Court. This “ACA Compliance Bulletin” provides an overview of the court case and the effect the ruling has on the ACA.
Contact your Cowden representative for more information on this or other compliance issues.