Affordable Care Act found constitutional

Posted on: 6/18/21

Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court announced in a 7-2 decision that the Affordable Care Act is still constitutional. This is the third time the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld the legislative authority of Congress. The ruling keeps intact Medicaid expansion and other measures such as quality initiatives, the federal marketplace, etc. As Oklahoma begins Medicaid expansion on July 1, this is a welcome relief that the latest challenge will not impact services. The OHA joined more than 30 other hospital associations in supporting briefs to uphold the ACA during the appeals process. 

The Supreme Court ruled that the challengers did not have “standing,” or the legal right to challenge the portions of the ACA they alleged were unconstitutional. From the American Hospital Association (AHA) special bulletin: “The plaintiffs contended that without a penalty to back up the ACA’s individual mandate, the mandate could no longer be justified under Congress’ taxing power and that the newly unconstitutional mandate could not be separated from the rest of the ACA. However, the Court held that the individual plaintiffs challenging the law did not suffer an injury traceable to the allegedly unconstitutional individual mandate because the mandate did not force them to do anything; a statute that tells patients to buy insurance but does not include a consequence for noncompliance does not harm anyone.

“The Court likewise held that the states challenging the ACA did not suffer an injury traceable to the allegedly unconstitutional individual mandate because their claimed ‘pocketbook’ losses in providing minimum essential coverage came not from the mandate, but from portions of the ACA that the states did not challenge. The ruling said that because neither the individual plaintiffs nor the states had standing, the Court rejected the challenge in total, leaving the ACA unscathed.”

For more detailed analysis, see this AHA blog. (Sandra Harrison)