Supreme Court Backs Healthcare Mandate

The Supreme Court upheld the insurance mandate in President Obama’s healthcare law.

The court said Congress has the authority to enforce the healthcare law’s individual mandate, which will require most U.S. taxpayers to purchase insurance or pay a penalty.

“Nothing in the Constitution guarantees that individuals may avoid taxation by inactivity,” Roberts said from the bench.

The court did not give approval to an expansion of Congressional powers to regulate commerce.

The court chipped away at the law’s Medicaid expansion without striking it down entirely. It said the federal government cannot withhold all Medicaid funding from states that choose not to take part in the expansion, but must allow states a choice between participating in the expanded program or leaving it as is.