Skip to content

The Affordable Care Act and the Supreme Court

By

On November 10, 2020, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments against the Affordable Care Act, which was passed 10 years ago under the Obama administration. A recording of the oral argument is available on C-SPAN’s website. These arguments are a continuation of the Texas v. California case, which began in February 2018, when 2 individuals and 20 Republican-led states, led by Texas, sued the federal government in an attempt to overturn the ACA. The Trump administration joined the states in opposition, while House Democrats and 21 state attorney generals, led by California, intervened to defend the law. (Source: Women’s Law Project) 

In December 2019, a federal appeals court ruled that part of the law was unconstitutional, namely a mandate which stated that “Americans shall buy qualifying policies.” This ruling led to the case being taken up by the Supreme Court. In the oral arguments on November 10th, the Trump administration and 18 Republican-led states (Wisconsin and Maine withdrew from the case in early 2019) referred to this unconstitutional ruling to request that the Supreme Court overturn the entire law.  

An official decision is expected in Spring 2021, but the Supreme Court justices made several statements after the hearing. Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s statement suggested that rather than invalidating the entire law, there are precedents that could allow them to sever the mandate from the law and leave the rest of the law intact. (Source: CNN) 

map depicting States' Positions in California v. Texas in the Supreme Court
States’ positions in California v. Texas at the Supreme Court


Overview of the Affordable Care Act 

The Affordable Care Act (often referred to as ACA, PPACA, or “Obamacare”) was enacted in March 2010 with the intention of making affordable health insurance available to more people. As stated on HealthCare.gov, “the law provides consumers with subsidies (“premium tax credits”) that lower costs for households with incomes between 100% and 400% of the federal poverty level.” (Source: HealthCare.gov) The law also expands the Medicaid program, though this expansion varies from state to state (Pennsylvania expanded Medicaid in 2015).  

The ACA was notably the first federal law to broadly prohibit sex discrimination in health care. (Source: Women’s Law Project) Finally, the Affordable Care Act supports innovative medical care delivery methods, which are designed to lower the costs of health care in general. You can read the full Affordable Care Act law on HealthCare.gov. 

Affordable Care Act Timeline  

This is not the first time the Affordable Care Act has been brought before the Supreme Court. Below is a summarized timeline of how the ACA came to be, and where it stands today as we wait for a ruling from the Supreme Court on whether they will sever the unconstitutional mandate from the law or disband the entire law altogether. More detailed timelines are available at AffordableHealthCa.com and EHealthInsurance.com. 

  • November 7, 2009: The House of Representatives votes on the Affordable Health Care for America Act (HR 3962). The bill is approved 220-215. Only one Republican voted for the bill, while 39 Democrats voted against it.
     
  • December 24, 2009: Senate approves similar legislation for health care reform in a 60-30 vote, with all Democrats voting for the bill and all Republicans voting against it. Passage of this bill means there is majority agreement in both the House and the Senate.
     
  • March 21, 2010: The Senate’s version of the health care plan is approved by the House in a 219-212 vote. All Republicans and 34 Democrats voted against it.
     
  • March 23, 2010: President Obama signs the Affordable Care Act into law.
     
  • June 2010 – September 2010: Elements of the Affordable Care Act begin to go into effect.
     
  • January 31, 2011: A Florida judge rules that elements of the Affordable Care Act are unconstitutional.
     
  • November 14, 2011: The U.S. Supreme Court agrees to hear arguments against the ACA brought by 26 states and the National Federation of Independent Business.
     
  • June 28, 2012: The U.S. Supreme Court chooses to uphold the major provisions of the ACA.
     
  • November 6, 2012: Obama is re-elected, effectively ensuring the Act will survive another 5 years.
     
  • January 1, 2014: The bulk of ACA changes go into effect.
     
  • March 4, 2015: The U.S. Supreme Court hears oral arguments that the ACA only allows subsidies to be distributed through state-run exchanges, and that regulations implemented by the IRS exceed the authority granted to it by Congress.
     
  • June 25, 2015: The Supreme Court rules 6-3 that subsidies can be distributed through Healthcare.gov if a state does not set up its own exchange.
     
  • November 9, 2016: Donald Trump is elected president. One of his major campaign promises is to “repeal and replace” the ACA.
     
  • March 24, 2017: Republican leaders pull their proposed American Health Care Act after failing to win over Republican conservatives and moderates.
     
  • February 26, 2018: A group of 20 states, led by Texas, sue the federal government seeking to have the entire ACA struck down.
     
  • November 10, 2020: The Supreme Court hears oral arguments in the Texas v. California case. 

U.S. Supreme Court Oral Argument: Health Care Law (C-SPAN) 

 Additional Resources 

Texas v. California is a complex case concerning the future of the Affordable Care Act, and has several different outcomes. The Supreme Court could rule to continue the ACA as it is written, to sever the individual mandate from the law, or decide that the individual mandate cannot be severed from the law, which could cause the entire law to be struck down. To learn more about the Affordable Care Act and the details of this case, consider the resources listed below.  

  • Explaining California v. Texas: A Guide to the Case Challenging the ACA (Source: Kaiser Family Foundation) 
  • Case Explainer: The Affordable Care Act at the U.S. Supreme Court Nov. 10 (Source: Women’s Law Project) 
  • Pro and Con on different issues: Is the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) Good for America? (Source: ProCon.org) 
  • Supreme Court of the United States Recent Decisions (Source: Supreme Court) 
  • Supreme Court of the United States Docket File for California v. Texas (Source: Supreme Court) 
  • AllSides roundup of Affordable Care Act in the news (Source: AllSides) 
  Important election dates in Pennsylvania for 2024: Oct 21 registration deadline, Oct 29 mail ballot application deadline, Nov 5 Election Day, and mail ballots due by 8 PM on Nov 5.

Sign Up for the CivicCLP Newsletter:

Join our CivicCLP mailing list here (select 'Civic Engagement' from the email topics list).

What is Civic Engagement?

https://youtu.be/x6bNwmrBPXI
Source: Presidential Precinct

Voter Registration Resources and Voting Information:

Civic Education & Engagement Local Partners:

Citizenship and Volunteering Initiatives:

  [post_title] => CivicCLP [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => closed [ping_status] => closed [post_password] => [post_name] => civicclp [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2024-10-18 13:24:07 [post_modified_gmt] => 2024-10-18 17:24:07 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 118 [guid] => http://10.70.30.223/?page_id=323031 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => page [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) ) [1] => Array ( [acf_fc_layout] => page_related_post [post] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 324833 [post_author] => 328 [post_date] => 2020-09-21 13:18:13 [post_date_gmt] => 2020-09-21 17:18:13 [post_content] => The passing of Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg on September 18, 2020 has created a vacancy in the 9-seat Supreme Court. There is no recent precedent for a confirmation vote so close to a presidential election. Nomination and confirmation of a new member of the Court involves both the President and the Senate. About the President: Donald J. Trump, Republican, was elected the 45th President of the United States in November 2016. (Source: Whitehouse.gov) About the Senate: The 116th Congress (whose 6-year terms last from 2019-2021) is comprised of the Majority Party: Republican (53 seats) and Minority Party: Democrat (45 seats). Other Parties include: 2 Independents (both caucus with the Democrats), for a total of 100 seats. (Source: Senate.gov) “The Constitution states that Justices ‘shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour.’ This means that the Justices hold office as long as they choose and can only be removed from office by impeachment.” A Supreme Court Justice may serve for life. While this position has typically gone to lawyers and judges, “the Constitution does not specify qualifications for Justices such as age, education, profession, or native-born citizenship. A Justice does not have to be a lawyer or a law school graduate, but all Justices have been trained in the law.” (Source: Supremecourt.gov) Below is the workflow for nominating and confirming a Supreme Court Justice: [caption id="attachment_324834" align="alignnone" width="739"]Graphics with arrows showing the nomination and confirmation process for Supreme Court Justices Everything you need to know about appointing a Supreme Court justice (The Washington Post)[/caption]
About the Supreme Court: The Supreme Court interprets the Constitution to upload the rule of law. In short, it makes the decision on what is or is not legal by hearing arguments on both sides of the issue, studying past applications of the law, as well as the Constitution. The decisions of the Supreme Court have an important impact on society at large, not just on lawyers and judges. The decisions of the Court have a profound impact on high school students. In fact, several landmark cases decided by the Court have involved students, e.g., Tinker v. Des Moines Independent School District (1969) held that students could not be punished for wearing black armbands to school to protest the Vietnam War. In the Tinker case, the Court held that "students do not shed their rights at the schoolhouse gate." (Source: USCourts.gov) It is common knowledge, and often heard in movies and on television, that when a person is arrested they should be told that they “have the right to remain silent”.  This is because of Miranda v. Arizona (1966) for which the Court ruled that those in police custody must be informed of their rights. Some additional examples of how Supreme Court rulings affect our everyday lives include:
  • Brown v. Board of Ed (1954) - a landmark case in which the justices ruled unanimously that racial segregation of children in public schools was unconstitutional.
  • Loving v. Virginia (1967) – a landmark case in which justices ruled unanimously to strike down state laws banning interracial marriage in the United States.
  • Board of Education of Independent School District No. 92 of Pottawatomie County v. Earls (2002) – Justices ruled (5–4) that suspicionless drug testing of students participating in competitive extracurricular activities did not violate the Fourth Amendment, which guarantees protection from unreasonable searches and seizures.
  • Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010) – Justices ruled (5–4) that laws that prevented corporations and unions from using their general treasury funds for independent “electioneering communications” (political advertising) violated the First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of speech.
  • Obergefell v. Hodges (2015) – Justices ruled (5-4) that state bans on same-sex marriage and on recognizing same-sex marriages duly performed in other jurisdictions are unconstitutional under the due process and equal protection clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
  • Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru (2020) – Justices ruled (7-2) that federal employment discrimination laws do not apply to teachers at church-run schools.
Additional Web Resources: [post_title] => Learn About Supreme Court Justices [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => open [ping_status] => closed [post_password] => [post_name] => learn-about-supreme-court-justices [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2021-06-08 10:33:27 [post_modified_gmt] => 2021-06-08 14:33:27 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => http://10.70.30.223/?p=324833 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) ) [2] => Array ( [acf_fc_layout] => page_related_post [post] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 326071 [post_author] => 285 [post_date] => 2020-10-23 10:21:03 [post_date_gmt] => 2020-10-23 14:21:03 [post_content] => Thanks to those who have participated in our first session of Let’s Talk About...How Should We Rebuild Our Economy?  These events are an opportunity to join a national discussion on issues facing our nation, and invites people with different perspectives and experiences to share their views. To learn more about this brand-new program series, click here. 
As written by Jodi Beggs for ThoughtCo., “...economics is the study of how people and groups of people use their resources” (Economics for Beginners, 2019). Our economy is a complex system with many moving parts, and to talk about how we should rebuild our economy, it’s helpful to understand the building blocks of how our economy works. Here is a collection of resources to learn more about the U.S. and global economy, recessions, and strategies for navigating the job market: ThoughtCo. 
  • To get started, ThoughtCo. offers an overview of economics in Economics for Beginners: Understanding the Basics. The article covers essential concepts and terms used in the field and links to in-depth articles for further reading. Learn about supply and demand, financial markets, and how we measure economic growth and decline.
TED-Ed 
  • This quick video from TED-Ed (the educational offshoot of the TED nonprofit) focuses specifically on economic recessions and what causes them. You can also visit their web page on this subject to take a quiz about what you’ve learned, and find additional resources on this topic. [embed width="123" height="456"]https://youtu.be/SwaCg7Gwtzw[/embed]
    What Causes an Economic Recession?
Crash Course 
  • Crash Course, with John Green and Hank Green, offers free educational videos in a range of topics, including economics. Though these videos are geared toward high school students, they are great for adults, too! Each session is about 10 – 15 minutes, and provides information on larger economic concepts as well as specific events that can affect our economy.
Lynda.com Book Lists  [post_title] => Learning About the U.S. and Global Economy [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => open [ping_status] => closed [post_password] => [post_name] => learning-about-us-and-global-economy [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2022-03-10 10:14:47 [post_modified_gmt] => 2022-03-10 15:14:47 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => http://10.70.30.223/?p=326071 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) ) ) -->

Related

CivicCLP

Learn About Supreme Court Justices

Learning About the U.S. and Global Economy

Support the Library, Give Today
site logo

What would you like to find?

Skip to content
Skip to content