The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) is a response to a national healthcare crisis, the Obama Administration claims in a defense brief filed with the Supreme Court.
The Associated Press reports that the brief addresses the constitutionality of the individual healthcare mandate, a key provision which is the focus of most arguments against the bill. The brief states the provision is necessary because healthcare for the uninsured pushes rates higher for those with coverage, making widespread coverage the solution. The fate of the PPACA will significantly affect the course of healthcare and health insurance in the nation. Employee benefits, private individual insurance and government programs will all be impacted by the Supreme Court's decision.
Some insurers have weighed in on the matter, the source reports, saying that the controversial provision is necessary to make the rest of the healthcare law viable and offer policies at the rates the PPACA works toward. Without the provision, some argue, providing coverage becomes unsustainable for the insurers.
The brief also defends the measure by invoking the commerce clause of the constitution on the grounds that healthcare takes up 18 percent of the national economy, making it an appropriate federal concern. Opponents say the government cannot mandate that citizens buy health insurance coverage, since that is properly a decision for individual Americans. Some also claim that the unconstitutional individual mandate renders the entire PPACA invalid.
