*By George S. Crisci, Esq.
This morning, the U.S. Supreme Court, by a 5-4 vote, upheld the “individual mandate” portion of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“PPACA”) as a “tax” and also upheld most of PPACA against constitutional challenges. The Court reasoned that the penalty paid by persons who violate the mandate to obtain health insurance is constitutional under Congress’ power to tax. The majority, however, rejected the argument that the mandate is constitutional under Congress’ Commerce Clause powers. That conclusion, though, does not affect either the constitutionality or ultimate enforcement of the individual mandate. The Court also upheld other challenged portions of PPACA. However, it narrowly construed the requirement that States comply with new eligibility requirements for Medicaid or risk losing their funding, holding that the provision is constitutional as long as States would only lose new funds if they did not comply with the new requirements, rather than all of their funding. The vote was surprising, with Chief Justice Roberts joining the Court’s “liberals” in the majority and Justice Kennedy (the perceived “swing vote”) joining the conservatives in the dissent. We will have a more detailed analysis in the very near future.
*George S. Crisci, an OSBA Certified Specialist in Labor and Employment Law, represents public and private employers in all aspects of workplace law. For more information about the PPACA or labor & employment law, please contact George (gsc@zrlaw.com) at 216.696.4441.
