by Jack Lee
As a follow up to Tina’s article below I just wanted to go on record that we were sold out by one vote and the stock market reacted by dropping 165 points. Justice John Roberts was the decisive vote. He was appointed to the Supreme Court in 2005 by President George W. Bush. Another insult, which must have liberals ROFLAO.
Supreme Court upholds health-care overhaul
Today 12:26 PM ET (MarketWatch)
LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) — The sweeping health-care overhaul considered President Barack Obama’s signature legislative achievement was upheld Thursday by the Supreme Court, handing a critical victory to Obama as he makes a bid for re-election.
Justices voted for the most part to keep in place the 2,700-page measure requiring that all Americans be insured, in an effort to begin chipping away at spiraling costs in the U.S. health-care system. The only setback for the act was the court’s decision that although the federal government could expand its Medicaid program as part of the law, it could not withhold funding for states if they chose not to participate.
The ruling sent hospital stocks soaring by near-double digit figures, with industry leader HCA Holdings Inc. (HCA) jumping 10%, and Health Management Associates Inc. (HMA) rising 9%.
Medicaid insurers also jumped on the news, with Wellcare Health Plans Inc. (WCG) up more than 9%.
But investors in commercial insurers, apparently expecting that the coverage requirement known as the individual mandate would be struck down, fell on the decision. WellPoint Inc. (WLP) was off more than 7%, while HealthNet Inc. (HNT) fell more than 5%. See the latest on stock moves in the health-care sector.
Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the majority opinion, and voted with the liberal wing of the court in a split 5-4 decision upholding the key provision of the law, officially known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. It proved somewhat of a surprise that Roberts was the critical swing vote in this case and not Justice Anthony Kennedy, who sided with the dissenters.
Roberts and four other justices determined that the mandate forcing individuals to buy insurance or pay a penalty — the centerpiece of the law — violated the Interstate Commerce Clause, but was constitutional under Congress’s taxing powers. Read summary of the Supreme Court’s ruling.
“The payment is not so high that there is really no choice but to buy health insurance; the payment is not limited to willful violations, as penalties for unlawful acts often are; and the payment is collected solely by the IRS through the normal means of taxation,” Roberts wrote.
Kennedy read the dissenting opinion from the bench and said: “In our view, the entire act before us is invalid in its entirety.”
The court also ruled that ordering states to expand Medicaid insurance was constitutional, but said the federal government could not withhold funding from states for failing to comply with the program.
The majority ruling said: “Nothing in our opinion precludes Congress from offering funds under the [act] to expand the availability of health care, 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 high court’s ruling came three months after the justices sat for an extraordinary six hours of oral arguments on the law. Arguments stretched over three days, with former Solicitor General Paul Clement arguing for overturning the entire law, including its mandate for individuals to obtain health insurance by 2014 or pay a penalty. Donald Verrilli, the current solicitor general, defended the law.
The court’s nine justices had been examining two parts of the sweeping health-care law. In addition to the mandate, the court considered whether the law’s requirement for states to expand Medicaid programs with federal backing should be overturned. See report of court’s arguments.
Signed by Obama in March 2010, the law was challenged immediately in court. Thirteen states led by Florida sued to challenge its constitutionality, and 13 others later joined the suit. Virginia filed a separate suit.
Example #178,568 and counting……..another tax thats wasn’t a tax, the Liberal baited the hook and the the give give crowd swallowed it, but how do they pay for it? The question is rhetorical.
That was a surprise. I guess Roberts don’t want to go down in history for a shmuck … or maybe he’s been a closet progressive all this time. I wonder if the papers are on line yet … I want to go find out what Kennedy has to say for himself.
Libby, you will be pleased to know that Kennedy lead the majority vote. Justice Scalia noted in a dissent that was animated even by Scalia standards, the Supreme Court’s decision in Arizona et al. v. United States unquestionably dealt a serious blow to state sovereignty. This has many conservatives asking how a purportedly conservative justice could have sided, particularly in such an important case, not just with Justice Kennedy, but with the Court’s left wing.
Interesting that Romney doesn’t have a lot to say since this whole thing was his invention. We can thank Republicans for this. The health care reform mandate was created by the Heritage Foundation and is a key component of Romneycare in Massachussetts. Why on earth did the Republican Party give us someone who created Obamacare? This mandate is a travesty. Just because the government decides “you can afford it” does not mean that someone can afford it. Right now food, gas, power, etc. costs more than ever. To insure a family at my company costs almost $1,000 a month.
Health care reform is desperately needed. There has got to be a way for insurance to be affordable but the mandate is not it.
Good point Princess, how will we afford it? And how will insurance companies afford it? It won’t take many expensive illnesses to bankrupt an insurance carrier. So this means we will have socialize medical practice in order to keep the cost an affordable level. Wonder how doctors will like earning $50k a year? If there is an upside, lawyers are going to find it real hard to get anything out of a malpractice suit.
I waited 2 hours at a doctors appointment for my kids this week for a physical. I have private insurance and I had an appointment. What will it be like if everyone is there?
I want everyone to have health care. I think it benefits everyone. But we do not have the infrastructure or resources to provide the care that everyone needs and we can’t afford it. Period. I don’t think we’re going to have socialism. I think we are going to have complete garbage health care that will still be unaffordable. Right now our doctors are taking too many patients because they can’t make enough money.
And this mandate is just a huge giveaway of our money to insurance companies. United Health Care makes billions in profits every year. Now there is an entire population that will be forced to buy insurance from them. Something has got to be done about our health care situation in this country but forcing us to buy insurance is garbage.
I can’t believe this is happening.
That we need insurance is an incorrect asumption.
We need health care.
The $1.5 trillion we spend on insurance does nothing for our heath and is a waste of money.
As for paying the price of health care, we would do well to discover (and talk about) the cost of health care.
Jack: “The ruling sent hospital stocks soaring by near-double digit figures”
This may be a temporary outcome. It could last a few years but ultimately won’t it become a lousy investment as costs soar and quality of care breaks down?
OTOH: “The $1.5 trillion we spend on insurance does nothing for our heath and is a waste of money.”
Private insurance was not originally meant to be a free care bonanza. It was used in the beginning as a hedge against catastrophe. Premiums were low because a lot of people thought it wise to protect themselves in this way and actual payouts from catastrophic events that insurers dished out could be easily covered. Buying insurance was a matter of personal choice. If you didn’t have coverage and you had a major heart problem or were involved in a bad car accident you were covered for the majority of costs. If you didn’t have insurance you spent the rest of your life making payments. Doctor visits ranged from $3.00 to $6.00 and docs had to collect that and the cost of treatment from patients themselves.
Then Medicare was born and freedom and choice headed for the door along with low costs for healthcare AND insurance.
“…we would do well to discover (and talk about) the cost of health care.”
We would indeed. Is anyone even mildly interested?
no one here does.
no one here is at all interested in solutions. Just complaining and dividing.
Jack: “The ruling sent hospital stocks soaring by near-double digit figures”
Stocks soared because the country is full of dimwits, who, like our MSM (that was some brilliant misreporting, wasn’t it?) don’t bother to look in depth into anything. Once “fee-for-service” is entirely dropped, and bundled payment is the norm, all yer providers are gonna be on a really tight leash, fiscally speaking. All those MRI mills are gonna go belly-up and good riddance.
The “for-profit” model as applied to healthcare has proved a miserable failure, and is on its way to irradication. If you’ve got monies in Wellpoint, I’d put it someplace else.