Constitutional and Administrative Law

Constitutional and Administrative Law
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation

Constitutional and Administrative Law: The Affordable Care Act
Summary of the Statute
The paper focuses on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) commonly known as the Obama care. It was a statute that was enacted by the 111th US Congress and later signed into a bill on 23rd March 2010 by President Barack Obama, and in 2014, it was implemented in full. The primary intention of the ACA was to increase the healthcare coverage and bring a different era of healthcare access to the American citizens (Gaffney & McCormick, 2017).
Cases Relevant to the Statute
Case 1: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services v. Florida
National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius
The case covers the argument on the constitutional position of the ACA provisions. The Congress suggests that the minimum coverage provision that requires nearly all the American citizens to acquire an insurance coverage and pay penalties is constitutional under the Congress’s taxing powers (“National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius – SCOTUSblog,” 2018).
On the other hand, the law opponent asserts that the move is unconstitutional under both the Congresses powers and the Commerce Clause as well. It is because it forces people to engage in commercial activities by commanding people to acquire the insurance coverage which further trigger tax. The ACA also violates the constitution since it threatens the states with the loss of their Medicaid Funding in case they fail to adhere to the provisions (“U.

S. Department of Health and Human Services v. Florida – SCOTUSblog,” 2018).
Arguments for the Statute
In my opinion, the ACA has created significant benefits to the American healthcare delivery system. It has helped in decreasing the number of uninsured citizens (Skinner & Chandra, 2016). It has also made access to the healthcare facilities and healthcare insurance service affordable. It has also enhanced the efficiency of the healthcare system in the United States (Feldman, Buysse, Hubner, Huffman & Loe, 2015).

References
Feldman, H., Buysse, C., Hubner, L., Huffman, L., & Loe, I. (2015). Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 and Children and Youth With Special Health Care Needs. Journal Of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics, 36(3), 207-217. doi: 10.1097/dbp.0000000000000151
Gaffney, A., & McCormick, D. (2017). The Affordable Care Act: implications for health-care equity. The Lancet, 389(10077), 1442-1452. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(17)30786-9
National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius – SCOTUSblog. (2018). Retrieved from http://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/national-federation-of-independent-business-v-sebelius/
Skinner, J., & Chandra, A. (2016). The Past and Future of the Affordable Care Act. JAMA, 316(5), 497. doi: 10.1001/jama.2016.10158
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services v. Florida – SCOTUSblog. (2018). Retrieved from http://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/u-s-department-of-health-and-human-services-v-florida/