Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) appeared on CNN's "State of the Union" with Jake Tapper on Sunday. The two discussed a variety of topics, one of which was the latest ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Reed O’Connor in Texas that deemed the Affordable Care Act, commonly referred to as Obamacare, as unconstitutional.
According to Collins, she believes that the judge's decision will be overturned on an appeal. Specifically, Collins stated that there's widespread support for covering people with pre-existing conditions.
“There’s no reason why the individual mandate provision can’t be struck down and keep all of the good provisions of the Affordable Care Act such as coverage for people with preexisting conditions, the mandated benefits for substance abuse and mental illness treatment, and allowing young people to stay on their parent’s policies until age 26,” Collins told Tapper.
She also explained that those who were being the hardest hit by the penalty aspect were those lower and middle class Americans who made less than $50,000 a year.
The Supreme Court previously cited Congress' power to tax as their reason for upholding the ACA as constitutional. Congress got rid of the penalty earlier this year as part of their tax reform policies. According to the judge, that's what now makes Obamacare unconstitutional.
“I think this will be overturned on appeal,” GOP Sen. Susan Collins says of a Texas judge's decision striking down Obamacare. “There’s no reason why the individual mandate provision can’t be struck down and keep all the good provisions of the Affordable Care Act.” #CNNSOTU pic.twitter.com/zBlUHiZwwE
— CNN (@CNN) December 16, 2018