RESPOND to the following issues below (post your opinion) about the AFFORDABLE CARE ACT on the discussion board (EACH POSTING = at least 100 words) and ALSO RESPOND to another student’s posting (EACH POSTING = at least 50 words) by the Assignment due date.
Since the Affordable Care Act was passed in 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court has issued two (2) significant rulings related to the Act which has caused considerable debate across the country.
On June 28, 2012 the Supreme Court upheld the individual mandate requiring Americans to buy health insurance or pay a penalty. The court ruled 5-4 that the mandate can stay as part of Congress’s power under a taxing clause. The court said that the government will be allowed to tax people for not having health insurance. “The Affordable Care Act’s requirement that certain individuals pay a financial penalty for not o btaining health insurance may reasonably be characterized as a tax,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the ruling. “Because the Constitution permits such a tax, it is not our role to forbid it, or to pass upon its wisdom or fairness.”
On June 30, 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that certain for-profit companies cannot be required to pay for specific types of contraceptives for their employees. The 5-4 decision was a legal and political setback for a controversial part of President Barack Obama’s healthcare reform law.
RESPOND to these two (2) Supreme Court rulings.
1) Should the Affordable Care Act be implemented as a “tax” so everyone is assured of coverage if they become ill or injured? Or is the government “overreaching” to require everyone to pay for a plan even if they do not want insurance coverage?
2) Should the Affordable Care Act require for-profit corporations to pay for contraceptives for their employees if the CEO has religious objections? Since this ruling targets women almost exclusively, is that fair to their female employees? Or should a corporate CEO be allowed to decide which benefits should be included in a health care plan if contraception (i.e., IUDs and emergency contraception pills) is not consistent with his/her religious beliefs?