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
I have blue cross blue shield state plan.It cost my husband over 500 a month.I still can not go to doctor cause by time you pay deductables pecentages and co pay it is alot of money out of pocket.if this makes insurance go up more I will be another person with none.come on washington have you ever counted change to get a perscripition because of the high cost.I think NOT.Walk a day in the working class peoples shoes and you would feel differant
It wasn't th esame thing in Mass. !!!!!!!!!!
insurance is going to be more afforable not cost more.
Why is this a bad thing? this health care could very well be a good thing!! I for one know what it feels like not to have health insurance. At a point in my life i had to pay out of pocket, i am now lucky enough to have it, but i know many people who can not afford it.
" More than eight in 10 Americans already have health insurance. But for most of the 50 million who are uninsured, the ruling offers the promise of guaranteed coverage at affordable prices. Lower-income and many middle-class families will be eligible for subsidies to help pay premiums starting in 2014.
There's also an added safety net for all Americans, insured and uninsured. Starting in 2014, insurance companies will not be able to deny coverage for medical treatment, nor can they charge more to people with health problems. Those protections, now standard in most big employer plans, will be available to all, including people who get laid off, or leave a corporate job to launch their own small business.
Seniors also benefit from the law through better Medicare coverage for those with high prescription costs, and no copayments for preventive care. But hospitals, nursing homes, and many other service providers may struggle once the Medicare cuts used to finance the law really start to bite.
Illegal immigrants are not entitled to the new insurance coverage under the law, and will remain one of the biggest groups uninsured."( abc news )