The Supreme Court Upholds the Health Care Law

Yesterday, the Supreme Court issued their ruling on President Obama's health care law. They largely upheld the entire law, except for a provision giving the federal government power to take away states existing Medicaid money should they choose to not expand Medicaid coverage to more people. One widely politicised provision that was upheld is the Individual Mandate which requires all people to purchase health insurance, with some people receiving government assistance through Medicaid to do so. The mandate was the main provision of the law expected to be struck down by many analysts.

What does this mean for GA? Nothing, says Gov. Nathan Deal in an article reported by the Atlanta Journal Constitution. GA will continue to wait to implement the major provisions of the law until the election in November. Republican presidential hopefully Mitt Romney has vowed to repeal the law and so have the republicans in congress. If that happens, all preparations made for the law to go into effect would be wasted. Some though, have criticized the Governors actions as placing politics before the health of low income Georgians.

For our patients, the law means that everyone will have to purchase health insurance by 2014. By that time there will be online exchanges where people can go to shop for health insurance. Insurance companies will not be able to deny coverage based on age, sex, or pre-existing conditions. If patients meet certain low-income thresholds, they will be put on Medicaid. 

The Community Health Center will continue to serve all people in our community, irrespective of having insurance or no insurance. We will continue to monitor the progression of the health care law and how it affects our patients to keep you informed.