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National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius

United States Supreme Court
567 U.S. 519, 132 S. Ct. 2566 (2012)

Written by Angela Patrick, JD

Facts

In 2010, Congress passed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). The National Federation of Independent Business, the State of Florida, and others (plaintiffs) sued Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services (defendant), in a Florida federal district court, challenging two ACA provisions: (1) one that required most individuals to maintain minimum health-insurance coverage or pay a penalty on their tax returns (the individual mandate) and (2) one that denied all federal Medicaid funds to states that did not expand their Medicaid coverage to include additional financially needy individuals. Evidence was presented that federal Medicaid funds provided around 10 percent of the total budget for many states. The district court struck down the ACA as a whole. On appeal, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit reversed in part, striking down only the individual mandate as unconstitutional and leaving the Medicaid provision intact. Other circuits had ruled differently in other lawsuits. The United States Supreme Court granted certiorari to resolve the circuit split.

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Dissent (Scalia, J.)

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