According to Scotusblog the individual mandate has been upheld. It survives as a tax. The entire bill is upheld with some limitations on the federal government’s power to terminate state Medicaid funds.
Given the drama surrounding the Supreme Court decision, it is rather amazing how toothless the mandate really is. Although the IRS is charged with collecting the penalty for not having health insurance, they are precluded from using their most powerful collection tools – recorded liens and levies. The only sure means of collecting the penalty from someone who does not want to pay it is to offset a refund. So someone who managed their tax payments to always have a balance due would never have to pay the penalty.
According to Scotusblog the opinion is rather complicated, so I know what I will be doing tonight.
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Originally published on Forbes.com on June 28th, 2012