As they were expected to do today, the Supreme Court ruled on the Obama administration's Affordable Health Care Act. And it looks like they upheld most of it, five to four. The individual mandate still stands. Conservative Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. ruled with the majority.
News outlets are scrambling now to analyze the ruling and figure out the details of SCOTUS' ruling. It's complicated. But we have a few ideas of what this ruling will mean to Americans.
According to the SCOTUS ruling, the individual mandate says that you must have coverage (public or private) by 2014 or face a tax penalty. By 2016, when the law is fully in place, that tax penalty will be close to $695 per person. There is some speculation that young, healthy people will do the math and decide to just pay the tax penalty rather than pay for health insurance.
More from The Stir: Highlights of the Supreme Court Arguments on Obamacare
It appears that there are provisions for people who refuse to comply with the mandate if they can demonstrate they have religious or financial issues with it. I'm not positive about that, though -- analysts are still looking into it.
Insurance companies will be required to take anyone, regardless of health. They will not get to charge sick people more for their policy than healthy people.
States will be able to expand Medicaid to cover more people. This means more people will qualify for Medicaid IF their state chooses to participate in that expansion. However, SCOTUS struck down the federal government's right to withhold Medicaid funding from states that choose not to participate in the expansion. So if you're hoping to qualify for Medicaid under the new law, you'll have to wait and see what your state decides to do.
This ruling will make the health care law even more of a hot button issue with the election. Obama will claim this as a victory. Romney will use it as a reason for change in the White House.
How do you feel about the SCOTUS ruling? Do you think it will affect you and your family?
Image via Rob Crawley/Flickr
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Comments 70
You left out the part about private insurance going up.
I still have many questions about this. I won't go into all of them but I am confused about the part that people can still refuse to purchase health care and they will just have to pay a tax penalty. If you decide to not pay and then you have health issues, who will pay for it? I would think that people would do the same as they do now and just not pay their billswhich in turn still makes those of us who pay for insurance to pick it up, right? If poor people can still get medicad, then how are they paying into the health system? It just seems to me that the middle class will be hurt the most by this because we are the ones paying for health insurance and it will be our health premiums that will be going up. My ex sister in law (who won't work and lives off of food stamp, welfare and medicad) goes to the e.r. for everything. If one of her kids get a cut or falls and bumps their head, she rushing them to the e.r. instead of taking them to the doctors and she never pays a dime for it. She is just one of the millions of people who abuse the system and makes to more expensive for those of us who pay into it and I know for a fact that won't change even now. If you can't force people to be responsible for themselves, then I don't see how this is going to help the most of us.
Ugh. This makes me upset!! My husbands work insurance has already doubled in the last few years! This will make it quadruple and im not even sure we could afford it if it keeps going up. The 695 would be cheaper in our case than the 500monthly health insurance! Ugh!!!
Just another entitlement for the folks who pay NO TAXES and ALREADY get everything they have for free.
MORE ENTITLEMENTS !!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yay.................
Mamavaness- This is exactly what I was thinking... My husband and I pay out the NOSE for insurance and I'm not sure we can keep shelling out! Theres still so many unanswered questions...
I work hard and make $13 an hour, however I am a temp so I do not have health insurance. I can not afford to carry it on my own. I have multiple pre-existing conditions that makes my insurance not over almost 800 a month, but it wouldnt even cover what I need it for for a year. The only good thing about this health care law is pre-existing going away. Other than that, I still cant afford the insurance, especially once the prices go up.
FYI - By law Pregnancy is NOT allowed to be a pre-existing condition.