In March 2010, President Barack Obama signed into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which, among other things, would expand Medicaid to cover at least 30 million more Americans.
The controversial law has been challenged numerous times. Some courts have ruled the law constitutional; others have ruled it unconstitutional. Perhaps the most controversial provision is the individual mandate, which requires uninsured individuals to purchase insurance or face fines. Earlier this week, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear arguments in the case. From Reuters:
The Obama administration asked the highest U.S. court to uphold the insurance provision, the centerpiece of the law, after 26 states separately asked that the entire law be struck down. Oral arguments would take place in March.
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Here is a look at what the case could mean on several fronts…* PROVIDERS – The healthcare law is expected to give hospitals a flood of revenue from newly insured patients. It also cuts the cost of emergency care for uninsured patients, which hospitals are legally bound to provide. Hospitals are banking on that offsetting the payment cuts they have already started taking under the law. Obama’s legislation increases payments to physicians, although hospitals get lower payments from Medicare and Medicaid.
