BREAKING NEWS: SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS ACA

The U.S. Supreme Court today upheld the constitutionality of all parts of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) including the “individual mandate,” which requires that nearly all Americans have health insurance or pay a penalty.

SCOTUSblog explains the decision:

“The Affordable Care Act, including its individual mandate that virtually all Americans buy health insurance, is constitutional. There were not five votes to uphold it on the ground that Congress could use its power to regulate commerce between the states to require everyone to buy health insurance. However, five Justices agreed that the penalty that someone must pay if he refuses to buy insurance is a kind of tax that Congress can impose using its taxing power. That is all that matters. Because the mandate survives, the Court did not need to decide what other parts of the statute were constitutional, except for a provision that required states to comply with new eligibility requirements for Medicaid or risk losing their funding. On that question, the Court held that the provision is constitutional as long as states would only lose new funds if they didn’t comply with the new requirements, rather than all of their funding.”

Read the full decision here:
http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/11pdf/11-393c3a2.pdf

So, what does this mean for biotech and the life sciences industry? Join us next Monday, July 2nd, for a conference call with industry experts to discuss the implications of this historic decision. For details and registration, click here.

MassBio will continue to work with BIO and state and federal agencies on effective implementation of the law and we will be sure to keep you informed.