CHICAGO – The American Medical Association (AMA) released the following statement after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court’s judgment striking down the individual mandate provision of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and vacated the judgment invalidating the entire ACA, remanding the case to the district court for additional analysis on the question of whether the remaining provisions of the ACA remain valid.

“Today’s decision leaves important health insurance protections shrouded in uncertainty despite overwhelming public support for these policies,” said AMA President Patrice A. Harris, M.D., M.A. “The decision underscores that the district court’s initial ruling striking down the entire ACA was made without appropriate analysis, ignoring the extensive reach of the law and its many provisions that have no relationship to the individual mandate. The AMA will continue our efforts to preserve health insurance coverage and patient protections that the ACA extended to millions of Americans, and will work to ensure the district court understands the extensive scope of the ACA’s many provisions that are unrelated to the individual mandate.”

“In the meantime, the benefits and protections enacted in the ACA are still in place and the AMA encourages uninsured individuals and families in the handful of states where enrollment is still open to seek health insurance coverage offered by the ACA marketplaces.”

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Editor’s Note: The AMA led an amicus brief in April that urged the court to reject the challenge. Additional organizations that joined the AMA include the American College of Physicians (ACP), American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP).