June 28, 2012:
The Supreme Court of the United States has upheld all major provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Chief Justice John Roberts joined with the majority in upholding the constitutionality of the individual mandate under the taxation clause of the Constitution based on the fact that it was a valid exercise of Congressional taxing authority.
Justice Roberts authored the majority opinion for the Court and was joined by the Court’s four liberal justices: Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor. According to Justice Roberts, “Simply put, Congress may tax and spend. This grant gives the federal government considerable influence even in areas where it cannot directly regulate…The federal government may enact a tax on an activity that it cannot authorize, forbid or otherwise control.”
Justices Samuel Alito, Anthony Kennedy, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas dissented.
Read the full AOA analysis of the Supreme Court ruling on the Affordable Care Act (ACA).