The United States Supreme Court has released its ruling on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), upholding the constitutionality of the individual insurance mandate which will require all American adults to purchase minimum coverage beginning in 2014.
The court determined that the case did not need to be postponed until the mandate goes into effect. Because the individual mandate was upheld, the justices did not address the question of whether striking down the provision would necessarily entail ruling against the entire law. They did, however, say that the part of the PPACA which would remove Medicaid funding from states' was unconstitutional.
The consequences of this decision may not be fully felt for some time. Plan Sponsor notes that many employers expressed the desire or expectation that the individual mandate or the entire law be struck down. Supporters of the PPACA have said since before the case reached the Supreme Court that the mandate will benefit employers in the long run.
By compelling more Americans to enter the health insurance market, the law's advocates say it will allow costs to be distributed more evenly rather than unfairly penalizing those with coverage and forcing them to pay, indirectly, for the healthcare costs of the uninsured. If they are correct, employee benefit costs may see significant reductions in the years ahead, or at least climb more slowly. It will likely take some time for the effects to become apparent.
