On June 28, 2012 the Supreme Court voted 5 to 4 to uphold President Obama’s health care law. The often conservative Supreme Court Chief Justice Roberts, voted with the majority. Roberts indicated that the fine within the law for folks who do not purchase health insurance was not likely constitutional and that it therefore was a tax. Congress has the authority to assess taxes under the constitution but not fines for not buying mandated products.
This appears to clear the way for the 2014 implementation of this vast law that nearly 2/3 of all Americans feel should either be repealed or drastically changed from its current form. Not so fast say opponents of the law. This is “not the end of the road” some offer. There is an election in November that might still change the course of this law. Mitt Romney vows that if elected that he would repeal the law on his first day in office. That of course would require the Republicans to obtain a majority in the Senate and maintain their majority in the House of Representatives. If that were to happen, and Romney keeps his word, one of the largest and most expensive laws in United States history would be repealed. Should that happen, Republicans agree some sort of reform would be renegotiated in Congress and likely passed by the President. Something less global in nature and more targeted to specific health care challenges.
This is my 5th quarterly article on this subject and still the future of this controversial health care law is not clear. One thing that is clear is that President Obama is not campaigning for re-election on this his single largest legislative accomplishment during his first term in office. So, we’ll just have to wait a few more months to see where this is all going. I will keep you updated and please feel free to call me should you have specific questions concerning this subject and if I don’t have the answer I will find out who does.
