National Federation of Independent Business v. Sibelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services
567 U.S (2012)
Facts of the Case:
"In 2010, Congress enacted the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in order to increase the number of Americans covered by health insurance and decrease the cost of health care." There were multiple key provisions in this case, one being an individual mandate that required most Americans to maintain "minimum essential" health insurance coverage. The other being a Medicaid expansion that increases the number of individuals that states must cover. The parties in this case included the National Federal of Independent Business, the state of Florida and Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services. The plaintiffs in this case alleged that the "individual mandate of the Act exceeded Congress's powers under Article I of the Constitution." A district court ruled on the case and determined…show more content… The Appeals Court affirmed the holding that the individual mandate exceeds Congress' power. They then, however, went against the District Court's ruling when they decided that that provision could be severed from the remainder of the Act. This judgement of the Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit was affirmed in part and reversed in part by the Supreme Court. They held that the Affordable Care is constitutional in part and unconstitutional in part. "The individual mandate cannot be upheld as an exercise of Congress's power under the Commerce Clause." They also held that the Medicaid expansion also violates the Constitution by threatening existing Medicaid
