Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh declined to say Wednesday how he would rule in a lawsuit that seeks to throw out Obamacare’s protections for patients with pre-existing illnesses.
“I can’t give assurances on specific hypotheticals,” Kavanaugh said when asked about the case by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., during confirmation hearings.
Kavanaugh noted that previous nominees avoided providing assurances about decisions they will cast in the future, stressing the need to evaluate the evidence independently when it is presented.
“It would be inconsistent with judicial independence … to provide answers on cases or issues that would come before us,” he said.
In trying to derail Kavanaugh’s nomination, Democrats have pointed repeatedly to the case, which faced oral arguments Wednesday in Texas at the same time as the Senate hearing. The lawsuit, brought by GOP attorneys general, says that Obamacare must fall because Congress passed a bill to undo a crucial part of the law that imposed fines on people who do not have health insurance. Without the provision, known as the “individual mandate,” Obamacare is unconstitutional, they argue.
The Trump administration has sided with the GOP states, but requested that instead two mandates in Obamacare fall, rather than the entire law: The requirement that insurers cover people with pre-existing conditions, such as cancer or diabetes, and the requirement that they not be allowed to charge sicker patients more for coverage.
