Article snippet: A federal appeals court on Tuesday hinted that it would strike down ObamaCare’s individual mandate as unconstitutional, but the three-judge panel was not as clear about whether they would overturn the entire law. Two Republican-appointed judges on the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals grilled attorneys representing Democratic attorneys general about whether Congress intended to invalidate the entire law when lawmakers eliminated the penalty for the individual mandate. The judges questioned whether ObamaCare would be able to stand on its own if the mandate were declared unconstitutional. The outcome of the lawsuit puts at risk health care for 20 million Americans who are covered by ObamaCare. Legal experts on both sides of the aisle said the challengers’ legal arguments are weak and the lawsuit is unlikely to ultimately succeed, but the lines of questioning from the judges puts that analysis in doubt. The issue is whether the mandate can be separated from the rest of the law, which extends far beyond just health insurance. Under the mandate, Americans who did not buy health insurance had to pay a financial penalty, a provision the U.S. Supreme Court upheld in 2012 by calling it a tax. “If you no longer have the tax why isn't [the mandate] unconstitutional?" said Jennifer Elrod, a judge appointed by former President George W. Bush. Attorneys for a coalition of Democratic states and the House of Representatives argued that Congress did not want the Affordable Care Act... Link to the full article to read more