Supreme Court Upholds Affordable Health Care Law

In an historic decision Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the individual insurance mandate, the central provision of President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act.

The 5-4 majority ruling, written by Chief Justice John Roberts, held that the mandate—which requires virtually every American to have health insurance or pay a penalty—is a constitutional under Congress's power to tax, according to multiple media reports.

The mandate, Roberts wrote, "makes going without insurance just another thing the Government taxes, like buying gasoline or earning income. And if the mandate is in effect just a tax hike on certain taxpayers who do not have health insurance, it may be within Congress’s constitutional power to tax."

Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act on March 23, 2010. The mandate—which will go into effect in 2014—was included because most people in the U.S. get their insurance through employers, leaving millions of people uncovered.

Pressuring people to buy into a plan and getting more businesses to offer policies will give insurance companies more people to spread the risk, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

Many are calling the decision a major victory for the White House, coming only five months before the November elections.

Sen. Mark Kirk sent the following statement:

"While I respect the Court’s decision, the health care law threatens our economic recovery by raising taxes, imposing new regulations and creating a drag on the economy. Congress should repeal the health care law and replace it with common sense, centrist reforms that give Americans the right to buy insurance across state lines and expand coverage without raising taxes, while blocking the government from coming between patients and their doctors."

Sen. Dick Durbin released a statement on his website that reads in part:

“This decision means that we can move forward to address the unsustainable increase in health care costs and expand the protection of health insurance coverage to over 30 million Americans – including millions in Illinois... It is also noteworthy that after two controversial, activist decisions in Bush v. Gore and Citizens United, the Chief Justice, in both the Arizona immigration law and the Affordable Care Act cases, appears to be working to reestablish the political neutrality of this court. That is a positive development.”

Read the full statement here.

Rep. Randy Hultgren, R-14, released this statement:

“Today, I’m disappointed for America. This entire law goes against American principles. Actions have consequences, we all know that. In this case the court has ruled that the government can tax you not only for choosing an action- moving to a certain neighborhood, earning a certain amount, or having a certain number of dependents- but for choosing inaction. This is unprecedented.

“Should we levy a special tax on individuals who don’t give to charity?  Should we penalize families that don’t buy American built cars? As Chief Justice John Roberts points out, under this theory, the government could address the diet problem by ordering people to buy vegetables.

“To be clear, this is just one of many new taxes in the Affordable Care Act, which included over $525 billion in new taxes. Average family insurance premiums expected to increase by $2,100. 20 million Americans could lose their employer-sponsored healthcare. Worst of all, the employer mandate could destroy as many as 1.6 million jobs.

“This is a tax increase cloaked as healthcare reform. In this economic environment, I think that’s a shame.”

Check back later for comments from state and local representatives.

What do you think of the Supreme Court's ruling? What does it mean for the upcoming presidential election? Cast your vote and sound off in the comments below.