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A federal appeals court Wednesday ruled a central feature of the Affordable Care Act was unconstitutional, but it ordered a Texas trial judge to reconsider a ruling that invalidated the entire 2010 healthcare law.
The decision sends the case back to U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor in Fort Worth, Texas. O’Connor has to be more specific about which parts of the law can’t be separated from the mandate, and also must take into account Congress’ decision to leave the rest of the law essentially unchanged when it reduced the penalty for not having insurance to zero.
As a result, the ACA prevails. The Employer Mandate remains in full effect and the IRS continues to assess potential penalties for non-compliance.