Supreme Court upholds Affordable Care Act

Live coverage: The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is constitutional and will remain in place, the Supreme Court announced this morning.

The mandate for individual health insurance, known as the “individual mandate,” had been a hotbed of contention in the months leading up to the decision. The court decided the individual mandate would remain, interpreting the penalty as a tax within the government’s taxation authority.

The Medicaid expansion had been another key issue. The court voted that Congress was free to make healthcare funding available to states, but was not permitted to penalize any state that chose not to participate in a healthcare reform program.

Chief Justice Roberts wrote: "Nothing in our opinion precludes Congress from offering funds under the ACA to expand the availability of healthcare, and requiring that states accepting such funds comply with the conditions on their use. What Congress is not free to do is to penalize states that choose not to participate in that new program by taking away their existing Medicaid funding."

The provision requiring payors to cover dependents until age 26 also remains in effect, SCOTUS ruled.

The 5-4 decision was released on the last scheduled court session before the summer break.

Watch for Long-Term Living's continuing coverage and analysis of the Supreme Court’s decision throughout the day.

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