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Utah says Obamacare isn’t constitutional, so it’s suing the U.S.

By https://s3.amazonaws.com/arc-authors/sltrib/bfa4c6e6-139a-4f46-9173-db8393cdcd51.jpg Aubrey Wieber
 | March 1, 2018, 8:00 p.m.
| Updated: 9:18 p.m.

Utah has signed on with 19 states that are suing the federal government because they say the Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional.

The lawsuit was filed Monday and argues that when Congress removed the individual mandate that penalizes Americans without insurance, it made the entire Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, unconstitutional.

“Utah has always believed that the ACA was an impermissible overreach of federal authority,” Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes said in a news release announcing the decision.

The U.S. Supreme Court sided with President Barack Obama’s administration in 2012, calling the mandate constitutional. The mandate was repealed as part of tax legislation in December.

Utah joins Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, West Virginia and Wisconsin in the lawsuit.

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Aubrey WieberReporter

Aubrey started at The Tribune in November 2017 covering breaking news, crime and courts. He previously worked in Oregon covering cops and courts and in eastern Idaho as a general assignment reporter and editor. Outside of journalism, Aubrey enjoys skiing, fly fishing, craft beer and NBA basketball.