Judge dismisses Maryland lawsuit seeking to protect ObamaCare

A federal judge on Friday dismissed a lawsuit filed by Maryland seeking to enforce the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

Judge Ellen Lipton Hollander of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland dismissed the case, saying that while the president’s profound disdain for the ACA can’t be disputed, neither his attempts to repeal the statute nor his derisive comments about it support an inference that he will fail to enforce the 2010 law.

“In sum, the State points to the President’s rhetoric, his legislative agenda, his regulatory agenda, and his litigation positions to demonstrate that he might possibly terminate enforcement of the ACA,” she wrote in her opinion.

“But, its claim consists of little more than supposition and conjecture about President Trump’s possible actions,” Hollander added. “In effect, the State proclaims that the sky is falling. But, falling acorns, even several of them, do not amount to a falling sky.”

Maryland filed the lawsuit in September to establish that the ACA is constitutional after Congress reduced the shared responsibility payment for violating the minimum coverage requirement down to zero in an overhaul of the tax code in 2017.

The lawsuit also sought to challenge the appointment of Matthew Whitaker as acting attorney general.