As President Donald Trump was urging Republicans this week to start a new effort to repeal and replace the Obama health law, a pair of federal judges delivered legal defeats to Trump Administration efforts to re-shape that health system, blocking efforts to require work in exchange for Medicaid coverage, and ruling against an effort to expand association health plans as a way to get around some of the health care coverage requirements under Obamacare.
"The Final Rule was intended and designed to end run the requirements of the ACA," wrote federal district judge John Bates, an appointee of President George W. Bush, as the judge blocked a Labor Department rule allowing broader use of association health plans, saying those efforts were 'unlawful.'
The decision came after a group of states led by New York had challenged the Trump Administration rule, which was issued after President Trump had signed an executive order in October of 2017, pressing for ways to allow more flexibility for group insurance policies under the Obama health law.
That decision came a day after another federal judge had struck down Medicaid work rules in Arkansas and Kentucky, ruling against state guidelines which required people to work in order to qualify for Medicaid health coverage.
The legal setbacks arrived as the President had surprised Republicans in Congress by repeatedly calling this week for action on health care - GOP lawmakers had basically abandoned any comprehensive efforts to repeal and replace the Obama health law after a legislative debacle on the subject in 2017.
"Obamacare has been an absolute disaster," the President said as he left for a Thursday night campaign rally in Michigan, where he repeated his call for action on a new health care system.
Mr. Trump told reporters that he had asked three GOP Senators to put together a new health care plan, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Rick Scott of Florida, and John Barrasso of Wyoming.
"They are going to work together and come up with something that's really spectacular," Mr. Trump said. "Maybe we'll even get support in the House from Democrats. But it's going to be far better than Obamacare."
While President Trump spoke optimistically about reaching a deal, Republicans remain united on the overall goal, but fractured on the fine print of such plans, which proved to be an election hot potato for the GOP in 2018, especially on the issue of how best to deal with pre-existing conditions.
"Well, we're working on a plan now," the President said Thursday.
In the background on all of this maneuvering is a court case now in Texas, in which the Trump Administration is asking for the Obama health law to be completely struck down.
"If the decisions are held up, if we win on the termination of Obamacare, we will have a plan that's far better than Obamacare," President Trump said, as he drew scorn from Democrats in the Congress.
"We will fight that. We will fight that in the Congress," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. "We'll fight it in the court. And we'll fight it in the court of public opinion."
Democrats in the House this week unveiled their own legislative plan - which is basically to fine tune and improve the current system.
"Trump is determined to take this country backward on health care," said Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA).
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