Supreme Court decides individual mandate is constitutional

In a 5-4 decision today, the United States Supreme Court upheld the “individual mandate” provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act as a permissible exercise of the federal government’s power under the U.S. Constitution to levy taxes. This means the requirement that most Americans either have health insurance coverage or pay a penalty will become effective in 2014 (unless legislation enacted before 2014 changes or revokes that requirement). This also means that all provisions of the Affordable Care Act currently in effect remain in effect, and all provisions of the Affordable Care Act with future effective dates will become effective on the applicable dates (again, unless future legislation changes or revokes any of those provisions).

For more information, please contact:

Antoinette M. Pilzner

248.220.1341

apilzner@mcdonaldhopkins.com