"Obamacare" Gets Clean Bill of Health

Official 2005 photo of Chief Justice John G. Roberts (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The U.S. Supreme Court upheld most of President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act Thursday by a narrow 5-4 margin.  Which is a surprise because most folks in and out of Washington believed all or part of the law would be struck down.

What's even more of a shocker is that Chief Justice John Roberts, who normally votes with the conservative majority, went with the progressive justices on the Court in this matter as the deciding vote.  Maybe Roberts doesn't always want to be seen as this conservative sellout who happens to be Chief Justice.

Most of the provisions in "Obamacare" (some of which are already in effect)--no denial of coverage for pre-existing conditions, young adults being insured until age 26 on their parents' policy, banning lifetime financial limits--will remain.  Expanding coverage to more low-income folks will not.

What the Court modified was the provision that everyone has to have health insurance by 2014, which is when the law goes into effect.  Now consumers face a choice:  Get covered now, or face a big tax bill later.  Some choice.  Many of those who can't afford health insurance now surely don't have the money to pay the IRS.

This is a huge win for the President in an election year, and for a Democratic party that's been mostly in hiding since Republicans have been beating their chests over wanting to repeal health care reform.  After the Supreme Court's decision, GOP leaders in the House still want to get rid of it and replace it with . . . whatever.  The Democratic-controlled Senate and the President will likely turn those notions back.

Meanwhile, presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney loses more credibility every time he talks about repealing "Obamacare" once he's in the White House.  Wasn't this the guy who, as Governor of Massachusetts, was for health care reform before he was against it?

Because the Affordable Health Care Act has been so controversial for so long, this will be a campaign issue long after the dust has settled on what the Supreme Court thinks about it.  When was the last time Republicans and other conservatives got so up-in-arms over the Court's opinion about a public health issue?  Well, it's been forty years since that ruling, and we're still seeing protests (some of it violent) at medical clinics and states making restrictions about what kind of care these particular patients are allowed to have.  The political and social landscape has never been the same since that ruling.

Maybe you've heard of it.  It's called Roe v. Wade.