Yesterday morning, the Supreme Court ruled that the Affordable Care Act is constitutional.
Since the Affordable Care Act was introduced in 2010, there has been debate as to whether access to healthcare and health insurance is a privilege or a right that can be enforced by the constitution. So, I was surprised to see the Supreme Court rule (5-4) to uphold the ACA with only a few important exceptions to the Medicaid provision.
Maybe you’ve had a chance to read and digest all 193 pages of the Supreme Court’s opinion. I have not, so I’ve decided to highlight a few of the noteworthy blog posts, articles and statements, surrounding the topic.
- Above the Law blog, wrote “Chief Justice John Roberts has upheld the individual mandate. But not under the commerce clause. Instead, Roberts has said that the law can proceed under Congress’s ability to tax.
- Amy Howe explained in plain English why the ruling is constitutional.
- Brian Fung from The Atlantic highlighted 3 reasons why this ruling was unexpected.
- Jessica Aron from the The Daily Beast reminded readers that the practice of “gender rating,” which means charging women higher premiums than men becomes illegal in all new individual and small group plans beginning in 2014.
- Jordan Rau and Julie Appleby from Kaiser Health News delved into the details of the court’s decision and what it will mean for state enforcement.
- Kaiser Health News Blog, Capsules, provided a great summary of important links about today’s landmark decision.
- Lyle Denniston on the SCOTUS blog informed us that this ruling is not a mandate but rather a tax.
- Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s President and CEO, Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, released a statement. In it she emphasized, “that affordable health care is not a partisan issue.”
- Also, a fiery debate is taking place in the comments section of The Chronicle of Philanthropy website about the significance of this decision and how it will effect nonprofits and grant makers in the future.
While I can breathe a sigh of relief (for now), I still wonder if there will ever be a day that health care costs become more reasonable thus negating the heavy reliance on health care insurance companies.
What do you think about this historic Supreme Court decision? Have you found other interesting commentary about this topic? And what do think should or will happen next? But most importantly, why does it matter to you?