Supreme Court Health Care Reform Case

The Supreme Court of the United States agreed to hear legal challenges to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, signed into law in 2010.  The case has enormous implications for many aspects American society -- government, politics, public policy, constitutional law, contract law, limits of federal power, states’ rights, individual freedoms.  The Court agreed to consider four questions associated with health care reform legislation:

1.  Individual mandate.  Nearly all U.S. residents must acquire health insurance by January 1, 2014 or pay a financial penalty.  Does this requirement exceed powers granted to Congress by the United States constitution?

2.  Medicaid.  The federal government provides some of the money states spend to provide medicaid health care to the needy.  The new health care law requires states to cover more people, and all medicaid funding will be withheld from states that don’t comply.  Can Congress use conditional funding to coerce states into implementing federal legislation, or does this exceed powers granted to the federal government by the United States constitution?

3.  Jurisdiction.  Under the Tax Anti-Injunction Act of 1867, federal courts cannot consider a tax case until after the tax has been assessed and collected.  Does a financial penalty levied on people who don’t buy health insurance constitute a tax?  If so, the court cannot rule on the legality of the individual mandate until it has been imposed sometime after 2014.

4.  Severability.  Requiring everyone to acquire health insurance provides funding needed to implement the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.  If the individual mandate is ruled to be unconstitutional, does this mean other provisions of the health care law are also unenforceable because they are linked to the individual mandate?

The Court is expected to render decisions on these issues in June 2012.

Source:  Preview of United States Supreme Court Cases.  Special Edition Issue #6: Health Care and the High Court.  American Bar Association, 2012.