Important 2012 events: Supreme Court's ACA ruling

In looking back at the year 2012, one of the most momentous occasions was the Supreme Court decision on the Affordable Care Act. Here are a few of our posts on the topic:

Broccoli, Coercion, and Severability: Three days of SCOTUS arguments on the Affordable Care Act: Liz summarized the legal issues the Court was considering: the constitutionality of the law's individual mandate, whether the federal government could force states to expand their Medicaid programs as a condition of continuing to participate in Medicaid, and whether the law as a whole could stand if a single provision were to be found unconstitutional. As we now know, the required Medicaid expansion was the one aspect of the law that the Court struck down; it's now optional for states to expand Medicaid eligibility to adults earning up to 133% of the federal poverty level.

The curious case of broccoli and health reform: Kim talked to public health experts about communication, asking, "Can reform supporters, and public health advocates in particular, compete against the bogeyman of government-mandated broccoli consumption?"

Mr. Republican lawmaker, have you tried to purchase private health insurance recently? Celeste made a powerful case for the ACA by sharing her daunting experience applying for an individual health insurance policy.

Public health reaction to Supreme Court's ACA ruling: 'Surprised and then ecastatic': Kim wrote, "For me, there were few better places to hear about today’s 5-4 Supreme Court ruling upholding the Affordable Care Act and its individual insurance mandate than at a meeting of the American Public Health Association (APHA)."

Supreme Court decision is great for public health -- but fate of 16 million poorest uninsured is still unclear: Liz was glad that the ACA survived the Court challenge, but was concerned about the impact of the Justices making the Medicaid expansion optional for states.

More like this

I've written before about the importance of the Affordable Care Act's Medicaid expansion and about the
More than $30 million in Arkansas, $25.8 million in Kentucky, $105.5 million in Washington and $180 million in Michigan. That’s how much money just four states during just one fiscal year saved under their newly expanded Medicaid programs.
With the second round of open enrollment now underway, the Affordable Care Act is expected to help narrow racial and ethnic disparities in insurance coverage, a new report finds. However, not all communities are predicted to benefit equally.