Supreme Court Strikes Down Obamacare Provision

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Posted Monday, June 30, 2014 at 06:48pm EDT

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by Long Island Attorney Paul A. Lauto, Esq.The United States Supreme Court has delivered a blow to Obamacare in the case of Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. in a 5-4 split decision.  At issue in the case was the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) provision mandating employers provide employees with cost free contraception as part of their health insurance plans.  Some 20 different FDA approved forms of contraception were included under the ACA provision, including the controversial “morning after” pill.

In its decision the court found that as applied to closely held corporations, the ACA provision violated the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) of 1993.  Such violation was held to exist in that the government was unable to satisfy the RFRA’s least restrictive standard, by failing to show that there was a lack of other means to achieve the provision’s desired goal, “…without imposing a substantial burden on the exercise of religion.”

Noteworthy is that Chief Justice Roberts, who previously was the swing vote in upholding Obamacare as a whole on the basis that it was essentially a tax, voted with the majority against the provision.  Unfortunately the Affordable Care Act is quickly becoming one of the most litigious bodies of law ever enacted in our country, making it anything but affordable.

Long Island Lawyer
Paul A. Lauto, Esq.
www.liattorney.com

Paul A. Lauto, Esq.
Paul A. Lauto, Esq. completed his undergraduate studies at SUNY at Stony Brook in 1987, with a major in political science and a double minor in socio-legal studies and moral-legal issues in philosophy. Mr. Lauto received his Juris Doctor from New York Law School in 1990 and was admitted in 1991 to practice in the courts of New York State, as well as the Eastern and Southern Districts of the United States District Court.

Mr. Lauto has primarily focused on personal injury throughout his career and previously worked as in-house counsel to a major insurance company. In 2002 Mr. Lauto established Paul A. Lauto, PLLC, with a primary concentration on personal injury, all types of accident cases, Wills, Trusts and Estates and more. Paul is the sole author of his Scales of Justice blog, which provides updates and information about current legal stories in the news and how they may affect our lives. Mr. Lauto prides himself on providing clients maximum results, with a high level of personal attorney service and attention that is uncommon in the profession. For more information please visit http://www.liattorney.com