Now that a federal judge in Texas has ruled unconstitutional the entirety of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, brokers may be asking: What do I do next?

The answer, says one ACA expert: Your job. Just like before.

That from Arthur Tacchino, J.D., Chief Innovation Officer at SyncStream, a software developer that helps companies comply with the complexities of Obamacare.

Tacchino knows the ACA inside and out. As a professor with the American College of Financial Services, he created content for a course on the health care law designed to inform lawyers and insurance agents on what the law means and how to apply it.

When asked about the implications of the ruling, Tacchino described it as “more of the same”–what people have come to expect from the ACA. “This really changes nothing,” he says. “Legal challenges have been a part of the act ever since its inception. And yet, it continues to forge on and, despite some changes, it remains the law of the land.”

Tacchino says the speculation generated by the Texas judge's action amounts to little more than theories about what could be, given subsequent actions. But while the possibility exists that the act could be dismantled, all signs point in the opposite direction. Meantime, it's incumbent upon brokers, agents, and advisors to remind their clients that compliance with the law as written is still required.

“It's almost like a game of political chess,” he says. “This ruling sets the stage for the debate of health care once again. The Democrats will use it as a sounding board for 2020. They will harp on the fact that the ruling came from the Republicans. Meantime, a lot of Republicans are saying, 'I wish this hadn't happened [because] this would get rid of pre-existing conditions protections.' Most Republicans have learned that people are happy with a lot of the aspects and provisions of the law. They no longer want to be associated with dismantling it.”

But as the politicians wrangle over the true meaning of the ruling, Tacchino says the broker community needs to remain calm.

From an agent and broker perspective, you will want to keep abreast of developments, of course,” he says. “But it is the law of the land, and they need to continue to educate their client base on that.”

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Brokers and the ACA ruling: Keep calm and carry on

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