Supreme Court Upholds Individual Mandate
The Supreme Court on Thursday delivered its decision on the controversial “individual mandate” embedded in President Obama’s landmark healthcare bill, ruling that it is constitutional.
The court’s ruling comes as a major defeat for those who have been fighting the healthcare overhaul well before President Obama signed it into law in 2010. The bill was not dismantled entirely and its expansion of Medicaid, although now limited, still stands. This means roughly 30 millions of uninsured low-income Americans are still eligible for coverage through the bill’s expansion of the state-run entitlement program.
“The bottom line: the entire ACA [Affordable Care Act] is upheld, with the exception that the federal government‘s power to terminate states’ Medicaid funds is narrowly read,” SCOTUS Blog reports.
After hearing oral arguments on the constitutionality of the bill in March, the Supreme Court Justices focused on these four points:
- Whether the “individual” mandate is constitutional
- Whether SCOTUS has the authority to rule on a tax law even though it hasn’t come into effect
- If the individual mandate is overturned, will it be cut from the rest of the law as a separate entity or will other provisions fall with it?
- Whether the law’s Medicaid expansion is constitutional
Of the four points discussed, the Supreme Court ruled that, as a tax, the individual mandate is constitutional.
Several analysts predicted that if the court ruled against the mandate, it would have negative long-term consequences on the president’s legacy and would weigh heavily on his reelection bid.
It doesn’t seem that way now.
Chief Justice Roberts, whose vote saved “Obamacare,” announced the court’s decision at 10:07 EST.
Supreme Court Upholds Individual Mandate | TheBlaze.com
