Supreme Court upholds health care law
Opponents of the health care law said Congress' power to regulate commerce didn't extend to people who choose not to buy something; the court's conservatives disagreed. Chief Justice John Roberts did decide, however, that the law was a legitimate use of the congressional power to tax. NBC's Pete Williams reports.
Updated at 11:55 a.m. ET: In a dramatic victory for President Barack Obama, the Supreme Court upheld the 2010 health care law Thursday, preserving Obama's landmark legislative achievement.
The majority opinion was written by Chief Justice John Roberts, who held that the law was a valid exercise of Congress's power to tax.
Roberts re-framed the debate over health care as a debate over increasing taxes. Congress, he said, is "increasing taxes" on those who choose to go uninsured.
Poll: Do you agree with Supreme Court ruling on health care law?
Tom Goldstein of the SCOTUS blog breaks down the Supreme Court's ruling on health care. Also, when asked why Chief Justice John Roberts upheld the law, Goldstein said, "I think he believed it."
Click here for the text of the ruling
The 2010 law, the Affordable Care Act, requires non-exempted individuals to maintain a minimum level of health insurance or pay a tax penalty.
The essence of Roberts's ruling was:
• "The Affordable Care Act is constitutional in part and unconstitutional in part," Roberts wrote.
• "The individual mandate cannot be upheld as an exercise of Congress's power under the Commerce Clause. That Clause authorizes Congress to regulate interstate commerce, not to order individuals to engage in it."
• But "it is reasonable to construe what Congress has done as increasing taxes on those who have a certain amount of income, but (who) choose to go without health insurance. Such legislation is within Congress's power to tax."
Roberts made a point of noting that he and the other justices "possess neither the expertise nor the prerogative to make policy judgments. Those decisions are entrusted to our Nation's elected leaders, who can be thrown out of office if the people disagree with them. It is not our job to protect the people from the consequences of their political choices."
Click here for Twitter reactions to the ruling
In a landmark ruling, the Supreme Court upholds President Obama's national health-care insurance act. NBC's Pete Williams reports. TODAY's Matt Lauer discusses the ruling with NBC's Savannah Guthrie and David Gregory, host of "Meet the Press."
The law, Roberts wrote, "makes going without insurance just another thing the Government taxes, like buying gasoline or earning income. And if the mandate is in effect just a tax hike on certain taxpayers who do not have health insurance, it may be within Congress's constitutional power to tax."
Jason Reed / Reuters
A sharply divided Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the centerpiece of Obama's signature healthcare overhaul law that requires that most Americans get insurance by 2014 or pay a financial penalty.
He said "The question is not whether that is the most natural interpretation of the mandate, but only whether it is a ‘fairly possible' one."
He said the Supreme Court precedent is that "every reasonable construction" of a law passed by Congress "must be resorted to, in order to save a statute from unconstitutionality."
Dems cheer high court as galvanized GOP vows 'full repeal'
Veteran Supreme Court lawyer Tom Goldstein told NBC's Pete Williams that "the Affordable Care Act was saved by Chief Justice John Roberts."
Claire McAndrew of Washington, left, and Donny Kirsch of Washington celebrate outside the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., Thursday, after a the court's ruling on health care.
Goldstein said the Obama administration "got the one vote they really needed in Chief Justice John Roberts."
When he served in the Senate in 2005, Obama voted against confirming Roberts as chief justice, arguing that he lacked empathy for underdogs and "he has far more often used his formidable skills on behalf of the strong in opposition to the weak."
(Twenty-one other Democratic senators, including Joe Biden, also voted against confirming Roberts. Twenty-two Democratic senators voted to confirm him.)
Obama hailed his victory: "The highest court in the land has now spoken. We will continue to implement this law and we'll work together to improve on it where we can."
But he urged Americans to refrain from re-fighting "the political battles of two years ago" or trying to "go back to the way things were."
The four justices joining Roberts in upholding the law were Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.
The dissenting justices were Justices Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito.
For individuals who choose to not comply with the individual insurance mandate, Congress deliberately chose to make the penalty fairly weak: only $95 for 2014; $325 for 2015; and $695 in 2016.
After 2016, that $695 amount is indexed to the consumer price index.
Congress specifically did not allow the use of liens and seizures of property as methods of enforcing the penalty.
Non-compliance with the mandate is also not subject to criminal or civil penalties under the Tax Code and interest does not accrue for failure to pay the penalty in a timely manner, according to the congressional Joint Committee on Taxation.
Chief Justice Roberts announces the Supreme Court's opinion in health care law
NBC's Pete Williams reported that Roberts reasoned that "there's no real compulsion here" since those who do not pay the penalty for not having insurance can't be sent to jail. "This is one of the scenarios that administration officials had considered that if the court did this they would consider it a big victory," Williams said.
In his reaction to the court's decision, Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney said, "What the court did today was say that Obamacare does not violate the Constitution. What they did not do was say that Obamacare is good law or that it's good policy."
He said the ruling had made it clear "If we want to get rid of Obamacare, we're going to have replace President Obama."
But in a major victory for the states who challenged the law, the court said that the Obama administration cannot coerce states to go along with the Medicaid insurance program for low-income people.
The financial pressure which the federal government puts on the states in the expansion of Medicaid "is a gun to the head," Roberts wrote.
"A State that opts out of the Affordable Care Act's expansion in health care coverage thus stands to lose not merely ‘a relatively small percentage' of its existing Medicaid funding, but all of it," Roberts said.
Congress cannot "penalize States that choose not to participate in that new program by taking away their existing Medicaid funding," Roberts said.
The Medicaid provision is projected to add nearly 30 million more people to the insurance program for low-income Americans -- but the court's decision left states free to opt out of the expansion if they choose.
Thoughts?
Quoting MomThingy:Im personally confused, im against Obama care, but i guess i don't know all the facts. I thought you would go to jail if you didn't take it and i did not know about them wanting to taking away medicaid if a state doesn't accept it. My children are on medicaid. Am i comprehending this right?
No - there is no jail time for criminal consequences attached to this bill. A monetary fine is the only consequence.
Actually, the Supreme Court did us a backhanded, biatchslap favor.
They called a spade, a spade. It's a TAX. Obummer and his chronies have sworn since this piece of toilet paper was unveiled that it was not a tax. Well guess what? It is. HAD the SCOTUS declared it a mandate, we would be up a creek without a paddle. Instead they threw something back in our laps that we can more han fix.
They have lit a fire under a slumbering, angry giant. More people are against this bill than are for it and the Conservatives needed a rallying point. Thank you SCOTUS, you not only gave it to us, you pretty much wrote every ad for every candidate running against anyone who voted for or supported this bill. According to sources, Mitt Romney's camp was given over 1.5 MILLION dollars in campaign funds within hours after this ruling. A lot of Conservatives aren't fond of Romney and I have many Conservatives friends who said flat out they were going to skip this election because they perceive Romney as 'Obama - lite'
(and before anyway starts pulling the racist card, I mean that as in less taste, less filling)
As of yesterday, they were rallying around. I'm sure Romney's campaign will appreciate the boost.
Romney will be the first to tell you that yes, his state passed a similar health care law. He will be the first to tell you it's a crap piece and he will also let you know pretty fast that when Obummer was fashiioning his healthcare bill, he DID NOT CONTACT anyone to ask - what worked and what didn't.. This is something we know - Barry doesn't ask for advice or help. He just plunders in and makes a mess while he's at it.
Also, Barry has proven that he has a tendency to IGNORE upper court rulings and does what he wants. He's thrown Arizona under the bus. same with the Catholic Church. Had SCOTUS declared this bill unconstitutional, chances are he would have ignored it and just gone his merry, tryranical dicatorship ways.
This is a bad bill. It's bad law, it's bad everything. Anyone who thinks they are getting better healthcare cheaper, you're not. It will do away with medicaid and Medicare. Doctors are LEAVING the profession and those who the GOVERNMENT decides can't afford the bill will get the worst care ever. Really. Going to a witch doctor spouting mumbo-jumbo and flinging monkey feces is better care. Waiting lists will go up and you can find yourself waiting months and months and months to find out why you have a lump in your breasts. I saw an interview with a doctor who specializes in Prostrate cancer stated yesterday that Obaminationcare STRICTLY FORBIDS and stopped the use of the most common screening test for prostrate cancer.
STOPPED IT IN ITS TRACKS! You can't be screened for prostrate cancer anymore. Where's the logic in that?
If you are over 75, your healthcare will come to an end. rally.
If you need dialysis... have diabetes... don't fit Michelle's idea of fit...
You are S. O. L.
really.
we currently have a president who has done something NO president has done before - he has put more illegals to work than Americans. We have a president who has violated religious rights, makes no bones that he is above the law. He is the law.
maybe he should play Judge Dredd, eh???
And this. This man does NOT represent me or you or any American citizen in this country.
Vote wisely in November. Your LIFE could depend on it.
And furthermore, that fine will never incur interest or penalties for being late.
Quoting Kris_PBG:
Quoting MomThingy:Im personally confused, im against Obama care, but i guess i don't know all the facts. I thought you would go to jail if you didn't take it and i did not know about them wanting to taking away medicaid if a state doesn't accept it. My children are on medicaid. Am i comprehending this right?
No - there is no jail time for criminal consequences attached to this bill. A monetary fine is the only consequence.
The Lounge
I see a lot of inaccurate information in this post.
Quoting zeesmuse:
Actually, the Supreme Court did us a backhanded, biatchslap favor.
They called a spade, a spade. It's a TAX. Obummer and his chronies have sworn since this piece of toilet paper was unveiled that it was not a tax. Well guess what? It is. HAD the SCOTUS declared it a mandate, we would be up a creek without a paddle. Instead they threw something back in our laps that we can more han fix.
They have lit a fire under a slumbering, angry giant. More people are against this bill than are for it and the Conservatives needed a rallying point. Thank you SCOTUS, you not only gave it to us, you pretty much wrote every ad for every candidate running against anyone who voted for or supported this bill. According to sources, Mitt Romney's camp was given over 1.5 MILLION dollars in campaign funds within hours after this ruling. A lot of Conservatives aren't fond of Romney and I have many Conservatives friends who said flat out they were going to skip this election because they perceive Romney as 'Obama - lite'
(and before anyway starts pulling the racist card, I mean that as in less taste, less filling)
As of yesterday, they were rallying around. I'm sure Romney's campaign will appreciate the boost.
Romney will be the first to tell you that yes, his state passed a similar health care law. He will be the first to tell you it's a crap piece and he will also let you know pretty fast that when Obummer was fashiioning his healthcare bill, he DID NOT CONTACT anyone to ask - what worked and what didn't.. This is something we know - Barry doesn't ask for advice or help. He just plunders in and makes a mess while he's at it.
Also, Barry has proven that he has a tendency to IGNORE upper court rulings and does what he wants. He's thrown Arizona under the bus. same with the Catholic Church. Had SCOTUS declared this bill unconstitutional, chances are he would have ignored it and just gone his merry, tryranical dicatorship ways.
This is a bad bill. It's bad law, it's bad everything. Anyone who thinks they are getting better healthcare cheaper, you're not. It will do away with medicaid and Medicare. Doctors are LEAVING the profession and those who the GOVERNMENT decides can't afford the bill will get the worst care ever. Really. Going to a witch doctor spouting mumbo-jumbo and flinging monkey feces is better care. Waiting lists will go up and you can find yourself waiting months and months and months to find out why you have a lump in your breasts. I saw an interview with a doctor who specializes in Prostrate cancer stated yesterday that Obaminationcare STRICTLY FORBIDS and stopped the use of the most common screening test for prostrate cancer.
STOPPED IT IN ITS TRACKS! You can't be screened for prostrate cancer anymore. Where's the logic in that?
If you are over 75, your healthcare will come to an end. rally.
If you need dialysis... have diabetes... don't fit Michelle's idea of fit...
You are S. O. L.
really.
we currently have a president who has done something NO president has done before - he has put more illegals to work than Americans. We have a president who has violated religious rights, makes no bones that he is above the law. He is the law.
maybe he should play Judge Dredd, eh???
And this. This man does NOT represent me or you or any American citizen in this country.
Vote wisely in November. Your LIFE could depend on it.
Yes, there is. I will take the time to point it all out as soon as I get home this evening.
Quoting Kris_PBG:I see a lot of inaccurate information in this post.
Quoting zeesmuse:
Actually, the Supreme Court did us a backhanded, biatchslap favor.
They called a spade, a spade. It's a TAX. Obummer and his chronies have sworn since this piece of toilet paper was unveiled that it was not a tax. Well guess what? It is. HAD the SCOTUS declared it a mandate, we would be up a creek without a paddle. Instead they threw something back in our laps that we can more han fix.
They have lit a fire under a slumbering, angry giant. More people are against this bill than are for it and the Conservatives needed a rallying point. Thank you SCOTUS, you not only gave it to us, you pretty much wrote every ad for every candidate running against anyone who voted for or supported this bill. According to sources, Mitt Romney's camp was given over 1.5 MILLION dollars in campaign funds within hours after this ruling. A lot of Conservatives aren't fond of Romney and I have many Conservatives friends who said flat out they were going to skip this election because they perceive Romney as 'Obama - lite'
(and before anyway starts pulling the racist card, I mean that as in less taste, less filling)
As of yesterday, they were rallying around. I'm sure Romney's campaign will appreciate the boost.
Romney will be the first to tell you that yes, his state passed a similar health care law. He will be the first to tell you it's a crap piece and he will also let you know pretty fast that when Obummer was fashiioning his healthcare bill, he DID NOT CONTACT anyone to ask - what worked and what didn't.. This is something we know - Barry doesn't ask for advice or help. He just plunders in and makes a mess while he's at it.
Also, Barry has proven that he has a tendency to IGNORE upper court rulings and does what he wants. He's thrown Arizona under the bus. same with the Catholic Church. Had SCOTUS declared this bill unconstitutional, chances are he would have ignored it and just gone his merry, tryranical dicatorship ways.
This is a bad bill. It's bad law, it's bad everything. Anyone who thinks they are getting better healthcare cheaper, you're not. It will do away with medicaid and Medicare. Doctors are LEAVING the profession and those who the GOVERNMENT decides can't afford the bill will get the worst care ever. Really. Going to a witch doctor spouting mumbo-jumbo and flinging monkey feces is better care. Waiting lists will go up and you can find yourself waiting months and months and months to find out why you have a lump in your breasts. I saw an interview with a doctor who specializes in Prostrate cancer stated yesterday that Obaminationcare STRICTLY FORBIDS and stopped the use of the most common screening test for prostrate cancer.
STOPPED IT IN ITS TRACKS! You can't be screened for prostrate cancer anymore. Where's the logic in that?
If you are over 75, your healthcare will come to an end. rally.
If you need dialysis... have diabetes... don't fit Michelle's idea of fit...
You are S. O. L.
really.
we currently have a president who has done something NO president has done before - he has put more illegals to work than Americans. We have a president who has violated religious rights, makes no bones that he is above the law. He is the law.
maybe he should play Judge Dredd, eh???
And this. This man does NOT represent me or you or any American citizen in this country.
Vote wisely in November. Your LIFE could depend on it.
Such as? I can back up my information.
Quoting Kris_PBG:I see a lot of inaccurate information in this post.
Quoting zeesmuse:
Actually, the Supreme Court did us a backhanded, biatchslap favor.
They called a spade, a spade. It's a TAX. Obummer and his chronies have sworn since this piece of toilet paper was unveiled that it was not a tax. Well guess what? It is. HAD the SCOTUS declared it a mandate, we would be up a creek without a paddle. Instead they threw something back in our laps that we can more han fix.
They have lit a fire under a slumbering, angry giant. More people are against this bill than are for it and the Conservatives needed a rallying point. Thank you SCOTUS, you not only gave it to us, you pretty much wrote every ad for every candidate running against anyone who voted for or supported this bill. According to sources, Mitt Romney's camp was given over 1.5 MILLION dollars in campaign funds within hours after this ruling. A lot of Conservatives aren't fond of Romney and I have many Conservatives friends who said flat out they were going to skip this election because they perceive Romney as 'Obama - lite'
(and before anyway starts pulling the racist card, I mean that as in less taste, less filling)
As of yesterday, they were rallying around. I'm sure Romney's campaign will appreciate the boost.
Romney will be the first to tell you that yes, his state passed a similar health care law. He will be the first to tell you it's a crap piece and he will also let you know pretty fast that when Obummer was fashiioning his healthcare bill, he DID NOT CONTACT anyone to ask - what worked and what didn't.. This is something we know - Barry doesn't ask for advice or help. He just plunders in and makes a mess while he's at it.
Also, Barry has proven that he has a tendency to IGNORE upper court rulings and does what he wants. He's thrown Arizona under the bus. same with the Catholic Church. Had SCOTUS declared this bill unconstitutional, chances are he would have ignored it and just gone his merry, tryranical dicatorship ways.
This is a bad bill. It's bad law, it's bad everything. Anyone who thinks they are getting better healthcare cheaper, you're not. It will do away with medicaid and Medicare. Doctors are LEAVING the profession and those who the GOVERNMENT decides can't afford the bill will get the worst care ever. Really. Going to a witch doctor spouting mumbo-jumbo and flinging monkey feces is better care. Waiting lists will go up and you can find yourself waiting months and months and months to find out why you have a lump in your breasts. I saw an interview with a doctor who specializes in Prostrate cancer stated yesterday that Obaminationcare STRICTLY FORBIDS and stopped the use of the most common screening test for prostrate cancer.
STOPPED IT IN ITS TRACKS! You can't be screened for prostrate cancer anymore. Where's the logic in that?
If you are over 75, your healthcare will come to an end. rally.
If you need dialysis... have diabetes... don't fit Michelle's idea of fit...
You are S. O. L.
really.
we currently have a president who has done something NO president has done before - he has put more illegals to work than Americans. We have a president who has violated religious rights, makes no bones that he is above the law. He is the law.
maybe he should play Judge Dredd, eh???
And this. This man does NOT represent me or you or any American citizen in this country.
Vote wisely in November. Your LIFE could depend on it.
Quoting zeesmuse:
Such as? I can back up my information.
Quoting Kris_PBG:
I see a lot of inaccurate information in this post.
Quoting zeesmuse:
Actually, the Supreme Court did us a backhanded, biatchslap favor.
They called a spade, a spade. It's a TAX. Obummer and his chronies have sworn since this piece of toilet paper was unveiled that it was not a tax. Well guess what? It is. HAD the SCOTUS declared it a mandate, we would be up a creek without a paddle. Instead they threw something back in our laps that we can more han fix.
They have lit a fire under a slumbering, angry giant. More people are against this bill than are for it and the Conservatives needed a rallying point. Thank you SCOTUS, you not only gave it to us, you pretty much wrote every ad for every candidate running against anyone who voted for or supported this bill. According to sources, Mitt Romney's camp was given over 1.5 MILLION dollars in campaign funds within hours after this ruling. A lot of Conservatives aren't fond of Romney and I have many Conservatives friends who said flat out they were going to skip this election because they perceive Romney as 'Obama - lite'
(and before anyway starts pulling the racist card, I mean that as in less taste, less filling)
As of yesterday, they were rallying around. I'm sure Romney's campaign will appreciate the boost.
Romney will be the first to tell you that yes, his state passed a similar health care law. He will be the first to tell you it's a crap piece and he will also let you know pretty fast that when Obummer was fashiioning his healthcare bill, he DID NOT CONTACT anyone to ask - what worked and what didn't.. This is something we know - Barry doesn't ask for advice or help. He just plunders in and makes a mess while he's at it.
Also, Barry has proven that he has a tendency to IGNORE upper court rulings and does what he wants. He's thrown Arizona under the bus. same with the Catholic Church. Had SCOTUS declared this bill unconstitutional, chances are he would have ignored it and just gone his merry, tryranical dicatorship ways.
This is a bad bill. It's bad law, it's bad everything. Anyone who thinks they are getting better healthcare cheaper, you're not. When you can't afford health care, ANY health coverage is better! It will do away with medicaid and Medicare.That is simply untrue. It won't pay doctors as much for services, but that decline in pay has been going on since the Clinton administration. Doctors are LEAVING the profession and those who the GOVERNMENT decides can't afford the bill will get the worst care ever. Really.You can't possibly claim to know this. Going to a witch doctor spouting mumbo-jumbo and flinging monkey feces is better care.Again, unless you have some sort of crystal ball, you can't possibly know this. Waiting lists will go up and you can find yourself waiting months and months and months to find out why you have a lump in your breasts. I saw an interview with a doctor who specializes in Prostrate cancer stated yesterday that Obaminationcare STRICTLY FORBIDS and stopped the use of the most common screening test for prostrate cancer. No, it's not covered. There are other prostate cancer screens that provide fewer false positives and are less expensive. It's not like you can't get it done, you will just have to pay for it yourself.
STOPPED IT IN ITS TRACKS! You can't be screened for prostrate cancer anymore. Where's the logic in that? One test that has yielded many false positives. Look it up!
If you are over 75, your healthcare will come to an end. rally. That's simply not going to happen.
If you need dialysis... have diabetes... don't fit Michelle's idea of fit...
You are S. O. L.
Are you freaking kidding? Diabetics and people that need dialysis are going to actually be able to get the care they need! You are really reaching here.
really.
we currently have a president who has done something NO president has done before - he has put more illegals to work than Americans. We have a president who has violated religious rights, makes no bones that he is above the law. He is the law.
Then vote for someone else. Obama has deported more illegals in 4 years than Bush deported in 8. Do some research. Are you saying he violated religious rights in regards to healthcare? There is a religious exemption.
maybe he should play Judge Dredd, eh???
And this. This man does NOT represent me or you or any American citizen in this country.
I'm an American Citizen and I will proudly cast my vote for Obama in November.
Vote wisely in November. Your LIFE could depend on it.
Quoting zeesmuse:
The op detailed a longer list of concerns...
But really? No healthcare if you are over 75? No healthcare for dialysis patients?
That sounds like fear mongering, not facts.
Question....if your spouse passes away and you get remarried......
- Kodysmommy928
on Jun. 28, 2012 at 7:36 PM