INDIANA (Indiana’s NewsCenter) - The nation's highest court upheld the controversial healthcare law Thursday. There were some questions but the core part of the plan still stands. The reason is because the United States Supreme Court ruled that the law is considered a tax.
The court ruled 5-4 to uphold it. They did rule against some of The Obama Administration’s arguments, but overall decided the mandate can be construed as a tax. Chief Justice John Roberts says it's not in their role to forbid a tax.
This is a victory for the democrats but many republicans think they have more work to do.
"We need to do that in a step by step affordable way and not one massive, wrap it all up in a 27,000 page bill, and as Nancy Pelosi famously said, we'll figure out what's in this bill after it's passed. I mean that's not the way to legislate," said U.S. Senator Dan Coats, (R) Indiana.
Coats suggests allowing more competition between states with healthcare and more cost transparency as some of the ways to create a better healthcare system.
A leader at Parkview Health in Fort Wayne says the new law isn't perfect but he’s glad to see more people getting the healthcare they need.
"There are a lot of people without coverage that are waiting way too long for care. They're waiting, and ending up going to the ER when their disease has progressed too far, and I think that's why we've got to make sure we advocate for those patients to get them to the right level of care, early in the process, so that we're able to prevent some of those catastrophic occurrences," said Mike Packnett, President and CEO, Parkview Health.
Although the law still stands there was one part the justices said was unconstitutional. The court wasn't on board with the law's expansion of Medicaid. However, Roberts says that it is constitutional if the federal government doesn't take action against the states that don't take part.
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