Today, the Supreme Court heard two hours of oral arguments in the case about certain portions of the Affordable Care Act. They have released the audio of those arguments on the Supreme Court website. The focus of today’s arguments was about the individual mandate.
This is the second part of a case called Department of Health and Human Services v. Florida. The plaintiffs for this case include 26 states, including: Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. It also includes the National Federation of Business. The defendants for this case are the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Obama administration.
Yesterday, the Supreme Court listened to one hour of oral arguments. The focus yesterday was on a federal law called the Anti- Injunction Act. In short, the Supreme Court needs to decide if the financial penalty that would be imposed on people who do not purchase health insurance in 2014 is a penalty, or if it is a tax.
If it is a tax, then this case cannot be heard until after someone has actually had to pay the tax. The Supreme Court released audio of the first day of oral arguments on their website.
Today, the Supreme Court heard two hours of oral arguments about the individual mandate. The individual mandate is the most controversial part of the Affordable Care Act. It is the part that most people became aware of first, before they learned about any of the good things that can come from the Affordable Care Act.
As a quick review, here is what the individual mandate is. It requires all Americans to purchase health insurance coverage in 2014. The state health insurance exchanges are supposed to be up and running by then, which will make things a lot easier for consumers.
People who already have health insurance coverage, through their employer, through Medicare, or through an individual policy, and who want to keep it, can. The point is that everyone is covered by health insurance, not that everyone rushes out to buy a brand new policy. People who are low-income will receive a supplement that will help them to pay for health insurance coverage. Those who choose not to purchase health insurance, and who do not already have coverage, will have to pay a financial penalty.
Today’s argument can be summarized. On the one side, the lawyer for the plaintiffs will attack the individual mandate, by saying something to the effect that it is unconstitutional. On the other side, the lawyer for the Obama administration will argue that Congress needs to enact the individual mandate in order to address the national crisis going on with health care. This side probably will also argue that no one can realistically go through life without ever needing to purchase health care, and therefore, everyone is in this market, like it or not.
As promised, the Supreme Court has released the audio of today’s oral arguments on their website. You can download it in mp3 format for iTunes, or wma format for Windows Media. You can also listen to it in Real Audio format, and listen to it streamed from the website.
Image by DonkeyHotey on Flickr