Reconsidering the Constitutionality of Obamacare

Abstract

Obamacare became law in 2010 as a result of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and it appeared that the PPACA’s constitutionality was settled by the 2012 decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in NFIB v. Sebelius, in which the Court held that Congress had the authority to enact a critical feature of the scheme: the “individual mandate,” which required that parties must purchase health coverage with certain essential features or pay a tax under Congress’s taxing power. But because Congress effectively eliminated the individual mandate tax in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, the PPACA can no longer be justified under Congress’s power to tax, and its constitutionality is once again in doubt.

Keywords: Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Obamacare, Taxing and Spending Clause