Politics & Government

Supreme Court Upholds Affordable Care Act, Burr Ridge Medical Director: It's a 'Good Thing'

The federal mandate requiring people to purchase health insurance or be penalized has been deemed constitutional by five of the nine judges.

The Supreme Court announced this morning that the Affordable Care Act, which requires every American to buy health insurance, is constitutional.

The Supreme Court ruled that the federal government can levy a "tax" on individuals who do not buy into the system. The judges said the individual mandate can not be upheld under the commerce clause, but that Congress's ability to tax and spend in this case is upheld.

The individual health care mandate is the key provision to what many have nicknamed "Obamacare." Many are calling it a huge win for the president as we approach the November elections. The Obama administration touted the law passed in March 2010 as its signature legislative achievement.

Find out what's happening in Burr Ridgewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

However, others decry the law because of concerns about the federal government's role in regulating the health care industry.

The Supreme Court voted 5-4 to uphold the law, with Chief Justice John Roberts casting the deciding vote and writing the majority opinion.

Find out what's happening in Burr Ridgewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Justices Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented.

"The act is invalid in its entirety," Kennedy said, according to Fox News.

Dr. Keith Veselik, who is the medical director of primary care for the Loyola Health System and also practices internal medicine and pediatrics at the in said he feels requiring people to purchase health insurance is a good thing.

"Outcomes have been worse when people have not sought care  and then problems are more serious or difficult to treat," said Veselik. "Right now, patients without insurance, they’re either paying out of pocket, part of the bill or not at all. Self-pay patients usually don’t have the money to cover the cost of their hospitaliztion. Hospitals and doctors end up taking a loss on that ... Some sort of healthcare coverage for all is the right thing. How we make that work we’ll leave that up to the experts."

*Patch will continue to cover this story and will have a story up with local reaction, as well as a poll to hear what readers think about the decision. Tell us what you think in the comments below.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Burr Ridge