Supreme Court Again Upholds Affordable Care Act

California v. Texas, the Supreme Court has again upheld the provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), often known as ObamaCare. A federal appeals court had ruled that ACA had originally been upheld by the Court as a tax, but subsequent legislation removed the tax penalty thus casting doubt on the validity of the individual mandate and perhaps the entire law. In a 7-2 ruling, the Court did not address the main contentions and instead ruled in favor of the ACA on a technicality. The Court found that the individual and state plaintiffs did not have the standing to challenge the validity of the law, because they could not show they were injured by the mandate that now had no enforcement mechanism. This ruling is the third time the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld the law in one way or another. 

Editor's Note: Some wonder whether the Court's ruling on the lack of standing by individuals and states will make it difficult to challenge the ACA in the future. There is a difference of opinion as to whether standing will be created if the federal government tries to enforce another provision of ObamaCare against someone, other than the individual mandate, and the person argues that the ACA's individual mandate is unconstitutional and that the entire law must therefore fall.

This is part of our August 2021 Newsletter.

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