With its enactment in March 2010, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) became one of the most polarizing pieces of legislation in recent history. Regardless of whether you abhor the legislation or fervently support it, the Affordable Care Act is here to stay for the foreseeable future. Although legally challenged, the United States Supreme Court’s decision on June 28, 2012 in National Federation of Independent Businesses v. Sebelius upheld critical portions of the Act.
The Supreme Court held that Congress does not have the power to enforce the Act under the Constitutional right to regulate interstate commerce, but Congress does have the power to enforce the Act under the Constitutional right to impose taxes. However, the part of the Act requiring states to expand their Medicaid programs to cover low-income single persons or child-less couples was struck down. States may elect to expand their Medicaid programs to include more of their citizens, in return for more federal funding.