[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit [official website] on Tuesday dismissed [opinion, PDF] a lawsuit that challenged the fairness of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) [text, PDF] for allowing members of Congress and their staffs to receive subsidies for their health insurance. US Senator Ron Johnson [official website] and one of his aides filed the suit and argued that the rule created an administrative burden on the senator and his staff, resulted in unequal protection, and caused him “reputational and electoral injury.” The court affirmed the ruling of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin [official website] and dismissed the case for lack of standing, agreeing that the plaintiffs received a benefit, not an injury, from the ACA. Senator Johnson announced [press release] his intention to consider his options in moving forward with the case.

Obama’s health care reform [JURIST feature] has caused continued debate and legal action since it was passed in 2010. Last month the US Supreme Court [official website] declined [JURIST report] to hear a challenge to the ACA’s Independent Payment Advisory Board provision. Earlier in March the Supreme Court heard [JURIST report] oral arguments for King v. Burwell in which the court was asked to rule on whether the Internal Revenue Service [official website] may adopt regulations to extend tax-credit subsidies to coverage purchased through the federal health insurance exchange established under the ACA. Last June the court ruled [JURIST report] in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby [SCOTUSblog backgrounder] that closely held corporations can deny contraceptive coverage to their employees for religious reasons.