By KEVIN McGILL and RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR
Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - The Trump administration and several Republican-led states face a midnight Wednesday deadline for filing papers with a federal appeals panel reviewing a lower court ruling that former President Barack Obama's health care law is unconstitutional.

The administration has switched its stance in the case, telling the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that it believes the Affordable Care Act law should be struck down completely. The administration had argued initially that only key parts of the law, such as protection for pre-existing conditions, should be invalidated.

U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor struck down the law in December, ruling in a case filed by Texas and other Republican-led states. The U.S. House and several Democratic-led states appealed.

The case is expected to eventually reach the Supreme Court.

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