U.S. Supreme Court to Hear ACA cases in November

The United States Supreme Court has granted the House of Representatives’ request to expand the time allotted on November 10 for oral argument in the consolidated Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) cases that will determine whether the statute stands in the aftermath of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which amended the ACA to zero out the shared responsibility payment. TheCourt expandedthe previously allotted one hour to 40 minutes for each side. The adjusted time allotment gives 30 minutes to California (and other states that support the ACA); 10 minutes to the House of Representatives (which supports the ACA); 20 minutes for the Solicitor General (who the ACA struck down); and 20 minutes for Texas (and other states that want the ACA struck down). Two private citizens and 18 Republican-controlled states filed suit against the United States to have the ACA declared unconstitutional on the ground that the shared responsibility payment was no longer a tax because it was set at $0.