HEALTH CARE LAW: President Obama Wins Again!

For the second time this week, President Barack Obama has won a major victory in the U.S. Supreme Court.

First, it was the High Court's ruling in the Arizona immigration law (S.B. 1070) case [see my twitter, on June 25th, 2012; and my blog, the lawyersmailbox.blogspot.com, 06/25/2012], in which the court reaffirms the authority of the Federal Government to set immigration policy and laws --- and not the states.

Secondly, in dramatic "high noon shoot-out" fashion, the Court has upheld President Obama's entire 2010 health care law (the 2010 affordable Care Act); the President's landmark legislative achievement.

The Supreme Court's majority opinion in this case was written by conservative republican Chief Justice John Roberts, who explained that the law was a valid exercise of Congress' power to tax.  In other words, according to Chief Justice Roberts, Congress is "increasing taxes" on those who choose to go uninsured.

[msnbc.com, Tom Curry, National Affairs writer; msnbc.msn.com; scotu_opinion_on_ACA-from-msnbc.com.pdf-AdobeReader; www.cnn.com/2012/06/28/politics/supreme-court-health-effects/index.html]

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) was enacted by Congress (and President Obama) in 2010 in order to increase the number of Americans covered by health insurance and decrease the cost of health care.  One key (and apparently controversial_ provision of the law is the so-called "individual mandate", which requires most Americans to maintain "minimum essential" health insurance coverage [26 U.S.C.§ 5000A].

The official U.S. Supreme Court case cite is:

National Federal of Independent Business, et al. v. Sebelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services, et al., Appeal from the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, October Term, 2011, in the Supreme Court of the United States, No. 11-393, Argued March 26, 27, 28, 2012 - Decided June 28, 2012.