The U.S. Supreme Court has released the highly anticipated decision regarding the issues raised by parties in two cases: Florida, et al. v. Department of Health and Human Services and National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius.
The Court held that the individual mandate is constitutional, and survives as a tax. The Medicaid expansion is also constitutional, but Congress’ enforcement powers to force states to comply are limited. Medicaid is a voluntary program, and always has been. States that do not want to comply with the expansion can only be penalized expansion dollars, not all dollars for the entire Medicaid program.
President Barack Obama signed the Affordable Care Act (ACA) into law in March 2010. On March 26-28, 2012, the Supreme Court heard arguments regarding the following four issues:
1) Anti-Injunction Act: Whether the Anti-Injunction Act bars consideration of the ACA’s minimum coverage provision before the mandate’s penalties take effect in 2015
2) Minimum Coverage Provision: If the ACA’s minimum coverage provision exceeds Congress’ powers under Article I of the U.S. Constitution
3) Severability: If the minimum coverage provision is invalidated, whether the remainder of the ACA must also be invalidated or if it is severable from the rest of the law
4) Medicaid Expansion: Whether Congress exceeded its powers and violated the principles of federalism by conditioning a state’s receipt of any federal Medicaid funding on implementation of the ACA’s Medicaid expansion
Please continue checking Healthinfolaw.org and HealthReformGPS.org for additional detailed analyses of the decision by experts and thought leaders on the decision.
.png)