Supreme Court to hear Obamacare challenge one week after election

Aug. 19 (UPI) -- The Supreme Court on Wednesday scheduled to hear arguments one week after Election Day in Republicans' lawsuit against the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act.

The high court will hear the case Nov. 10.

The lawsuit, filed by an 18-state coalition led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, seeks to overturn the landmark healthcare law. The suit argues the ACA, also known as Obamacare, was rendered unconstitutional by President Donald Trump's 2017 tax overhaul, which removed "the only constitutional basis for the law: the tax penalty in Obamacare's individual mandate."

The individual mandate, which requires people to carry a minimum level of health insurance coverage with a tax penalty imposed against those who do not comply, was proved constitutional by the Supreme Court in 2012.

However, the coalition says that when Congress approved Trump's Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which removed the penalty, the individual mandate was made illegal. The group is asking the Supreme Court to scrap the whole ACA, which would remove coverage from tens of millions of Americans amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The Supreme Court is expected to rule on the case in June 2021.

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, leads a coalition of 20 states and the District of Columbia seeking to protect the ACA.