National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius

Facts

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act expanded health care coverage for Americans One key provision was the individual mandate, which required most Americans to maintain minimum essential health insurance coverage. For individuals who were not exempt, and who didn’t receive health insurance through an employer or government program, the means of satisfying the requirement was to purchase insurance from a private company. Those who did not comply with the mandate must make a shared responsibility of payment to the Federal Government. The Act also expanded the Medicaid program to include adults with incomes up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level. The Act increased federal funding to cover the States’ costs in expanding Medicaid coverage. But if a State did not comply with the Act’s new coverage requirements, it might lose not only the federal funding for those requirements, but all of its federal Medicaid funds. Twenty-six states, several individuals and the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) brought suit in federal court challenging the constitutionality of the individual mandate and the Medicaid expansion.