PINEHURST — The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the individual insurance requirement at the heart of President Barack Obama's historic health care overhaul.
The decision means the huge overhaul, still only partly in effect, will proceed and pick up momentum over the next several years, affecting the way that countless Americans receive and pay for their personal medical care. The ruling also hands Obama a campaign-season victory in rejecting arguments that Congress went too far in requiring most Americans to have health insurance or pay a penalty.
Breaking with the court's other conservative justices, Chief Justice John Roberts announced the judgment that allows the law to go forward with its aim of covering more than 30 million uninsured Americans.
The justices rejected two of the administration's three arguments in support of the insurance requirement. But the court said the mandate can be construed as a tax. "Because the Constitution permits such a tax, it is not our role to forbid it, or to pass upon its wisdom or fairness," Roberts said.
The court found problems with the law's expansion of Medicaid, but even there said the expansion could proceed as long as the federal government does not threaten to withhold states' entire Medicaid allotment if they don't take part in the law's extension.
The court's four liberal justices, Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor, joined Roberts in the outcome.
Justices Samuel Alito, Anthony Kennedy, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas dissented.
"The act before us here exceeds federal power both in mandating the purchase of health insurance and in denying non-consenting states all Medicaid funding," the dissenters said in a joint statement.
Republican campaign strategists said presidential candidate Mitt Romney will use the court's ruling to continue campaigning against "Obamacare" and attacking the president's signature health care program as a tax increase.
“Today, individual freedom took a body blow in the highest court in the land,” said Texas Congressman Kevin Brady. “Despite the fact that ObamaCare is bad for the economy, drives up health care costs and makes the deficit worse, the Supreme Court told every American that there are no limits on Washington’s power to force Americans to do something simply by taxing them.”
Brady, who spearheaded charts depicting how ObamaCare would put 159 new government agencies and programs between patients and their doctors, said Americans who don’t want government to order them to private product merely because they exist will need to make their voices heard in November.
“I look forward to voting for full repeal in the House on July 11 and I will keep fighting for full repeal, because Americans want limited government and free market driven reforms including an end to junk medical lawsuits,” added Brady. “What they didn’t want was this Washington knows best approach. Today, however, was not the final word on this terrible legislation and the American people will have their say at the ballot box in November.”
"Obama might have his law, but the GOP has a cause," said veteran campaign adviser Terry Holt. "This promises to galvanize Republican support around a repeal of what could well be called the largest tax increase in American history."
