Thread: Individual Mandate has been struck down

Varney & Co. - Fox Business

I am watching it on TV FBN Fox business news

Varney on fox business news is saying

Split Decision

Now they are upholding it as a tax???


Very Confusing

I understand the entire law stands with the exception of the medicaid part. Looking at SCOTUS website now to clarify

Roberts voted with the progressives

Supreme Court to unveil ObamaCare decision

Published June 28, 2012

FoxNews.com

The Supreme Court is moments away from delivering an opinion that will determine whether "health care reform" is in need of more reform.

Sometime after 10 a.m. ET, the landmark ruling will be released to the public. The opinion is a secret even to President Obama, who will find out about the ruling just like everybody else.

"We all will await the decision and learn of it at the same time that you do," White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters on Wednesday.

With the opinion poised to have just as much of an impact on Obama's legacy as it does on the American health care system and economy, staffers in Washington have been preparing behind the scenes for the roughly five scenarios that could play out by late morning Thursday.

They are:

The Supreme Court could uphold the entire law.
The court could strike down the entire law.
The court could strike down just the individual mandate -- the requirement that most Americans buy health insurance.
The court could strike down the mandate, and two provisions tied to it -- a provision that prohibits insurers from refusing coverage based on pre-existing conditions, and one that prohibits insurers from charging extra based on medical history.
The Supreme Court could punt, and not make any decision at all -- citing a law that bars court challenges over taxes that haven't yet been paid.

On a related track, the court also will be ruling on a challenge over the expansion of Medicaid to the states.

For now, the decision remains anyone's guess, but it is sure to have sweeping consequences.

During an election year and a period of shaky economic recovery, what the high court decrees will ripple through the political world and, more importantly, the sector that counts for one-sixth of the American economy.

Will Americans be guaranteed coverage regardless of medical condition? Will they be forced to buy insurance? Will businesses be able to hire without worrying whether they can afford the accompanying health care costs?

The White House, peppered with questions at Wednesday's briefing, was reticent to entertain the implications of the looming decision and what it could mean for Obama's signature domestic policy achievement and what it could mean for the millions of Americans it affects.

Carney said only that the Obama administration is "confident" the law is constitutional, and he defended what the provisions have done for health care in America to date. He said, for instance, that 3.1 million more young adults have coverage today because of a provision allowing them to stay on their parents' plans until age 26.

Republicans, though, say the myriad consumer protections come with a big cost, and they are vowing to keep up the fight to repeal the law should the court uphold all or part of it.

"If the court does not strike down the entire law, the House will move to repeal what's left of it," House Speaker John Boehner said Wednesday, claiming the law is driving up the cost of health care and making it tougher for small businesses to hire workers.

While Republicans' chief argument against the law is that it stifles economic growth with burdensome regulations, the chief legal argument in court is that the individual mandate requiring most Americans to get health insurance is unconstitutional.

Both parties have been teeing up their next step following the ruling.

Republicans have vowed to repeal whatever's left, and Democrats have vowed to protect what they can.

"We're prepared to build on the landmark health reform to make sure, more and more, we have affordable quality health care for all Americans," Rep. Xavier Becerra, D-Calif., told Fox News.

But if the mandate is struck down, it throws the entire economic formula for implementing the policy out of balance. Health insurance companies are expected to take on a significant amount of additional cost due to provisions that guarantee coverage and implement other consumer protections -- in exchange, the mandate ensured those companies would get millions more customers. Without the mandate, that trade-off disappears.

Democrats have acknowledged that eliminating the mandate would cause problems for implementing the rest of the regulations.

Meanwhile, the decision could have a significant impact on the 2012 presidential race. If the law stands, Obama wins some measure of vindication -- but can also be assured that Romney will continue to run on repealing the policy. If the law falls, Obama faces a major rebuke, but can take solace in the fact that Romney can no longer run on his repeal pledge.

Romney, though, signaled Tuesday he'll be hammering the president over the law no matter how the court rules.

If the law is overturned, Romney said, "then the first three-and-a-half years of this president's term will have been wasted on something that has not helped the American people."

"If it is deemed to stand," Romney continued, "then I'll tell you one thing. Then we'll have to have a president, and I'm that one, that's going to get rid of ObamaCare."





Read more: Supreme Court to unveil ObamaCare decision | Fox News

OBamacare is upheld.

Originally Posted by dregerk

OBamacare is upheld.

It is upheld as a tax not part of the Commerce Law..everyone at this point will be paying a tax for it even those below the 250,000 threshold....but it is 2700 pages long what happens with that????

BREAKING: ObamaCare Ruled Constitutional! Chief Justice Roberts joins left
Posted on June 28, 2012 by Conservative Byte
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The Supreme Court of the United States has ruled that the individual mandate within the health care reform law, The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, can survive as a tax rather than a mandate. Chief Justice John Roberts has joined the Court’s liberal justices in affirming that the law will stand and authoring the majority decision.

The rest of the health care reform law, otherwise known as “Obamacare,” will remain intact. The provision to allow the federal government expand or limit state funds for Medicare remains in valid and was not struck down, but has been slightly limited from its original construction in the ACA.


Continue Reading on Mediaite.com | News & Opinion | Media: TV, Print, Online, Jobs, Ranking ...
Supreme Court Declares Obama’s Health Care Reform Law Constitutional | Mediaite

Supreme Court Declares Obama’s Health Care Reform Law Constitutional
by Noah Rothman | 10:17 am, June 28th, 2012
» 20 comments

The Supreme Court of the United States has ruled that the individual mandate within the health care reform law, The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, can survive as a tax rather than a mandate. Chief Justice John Roberts has joined the Court’s liberal justices in affirming that the law will stand and authoring the majority decision.

The rest of the health care reform law, otherwise known as “Obamacare,” will remain intact. Roberts decision says that states cannot be penalized by the federal government by limiting the Medicare funds they receive if they opt not to expand their rolls. This provision was only slightly limited from its original construction in the ACA.

Nothing in our opinion precludes Congress from offering funds under the ACA to expand the availability of health care, and requiring that states accepting such funds comply with the conditions on their use. What Congress is not free to do is to penalize States that choose not to participate in that new program by taking away their existing Medicaid funding.

The individual mandate was upheld as a tax — they found that the federal government could not force individuals to purchase a product, but a penalty could be imposed if they opted not to purchase the product which is, in this case, private health insurance.

The tax provision survived in a 5-4 vote, with Roberts joining the Court’s liberal justices. The perennial swing vote, Justice Anthony Kennedy, read the Court’s dissent along with the Court’s traditionally conservative justices.

After several months of contentious public debate and several Congressional votes, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act passed in March 2010.

Despite passing Congress, albeit along party-line votes in the House and Senate, the law never became less controversial.

Polls of public opinion on the popularity of the law have shown that health care reform remained persistently polarizing even after its passage. Consistent pluralities or majorities, with rare exceptions, continued to tell pollsters that they favored the repeal of health care reform from 2010 even to today.

The action the Supreme Court has taken today is unlikely to settle arguments that surround the constitutionality of the reform of America’s health care system.


Varney & Co. - Fox Business

And in 09/20/2009 on ABC OB1 told Stepnonopolis that this is NOT a Tax increase! Just on FOX News.....

Originally Posted by dregerk

And in 09/20/2009 on ABC OB1 told Stepnonopolis that this is NOT a Tax increase! Just on FOX News.....

As usual obummer lied again

Since it is a tax it can be changed or thrown out. So Romney can strike it down!

Thursday, June 28, 2012 Find Us on Facebook Follow US on Twitter
BREAKING: SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS INDIVIDUAL MANDATE



The Supreme Court just announced that it has ruled the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate provision constitutional, upholding the key provision of Obama administration's signature healthcare legislation.

The ruling is complicated, but SCOTUS blog pars it down:

The bottom line: the entire ACA is upheld, with the exception that the federal government's power to terminate states' Medicaid funds is narrowly read.

Amy Howe, of SCOTUS blog, writes that the "court reinforces that individuals can simply refuse to pay the tax and not comply with the mandate."

According to the blog, Chief Justice John Roberts delivered the decisive votes, siding with the court's more liberal judges to vote in favor of the law's constitutionality.

Justice Kennedy, often considered the swing vote, sided with the minority.



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Welcome to the liveblog. Thursday is the day. Here is our schedule, all times EDT. 8:45a – liveblog begins with introductory explanation. 9a-10a – answers to your questions. 10a-1045a (appx) – decision announcements. We expect the health care decision to be announced at roughly 10:15a. 1045a-1p – live coverage and analysis.

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http://www.scotusblog.com/cover-it-l...DUAL%20MANDATE


Opinion link:

The opinion in the health care cases is here. http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions...11-393c3a2.pdf

http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions...11-393c3a2.pdf