In NFIB v. Sibelius, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the individual mandate of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) by branding the penalty for not buying health insurance as a tax. In 2017 however, the Republican-controlled Congress under the newly elected President Trump enacted an amendment to the ACA that set the penalty for not buying health insurance to zero, leaving the rest of the ACA in place. Several states, including Texas, subsequently filed suit in federal court challenging the individual mandate again, positing that because the penalty was now zero, it can no longer be considered a tax and is thus unconstitutional. California and several other states joined the lawsuit in defense of the individual mandate. The oral arguments for the case took place on November 10th, and Professor Ilya Somin joins us to discuss the oral argument and the implications for the case.
Featuring:
Prof. Ilya Somin, Professor of Law, Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University