WORD LISTS

Supreme Court healthcare ruling

June 28, 2012

Vocabulary from the Plain English summary of the Supreme Court's ruling upholding the Affordable Care Act.

The Affordable Care Act, including its individual mandate that virtually all Americans buy health insurance, is constitutional. There were not five votes to uphold it on the ground that Congress could use its power to regulate commerce between the states to require everyone to buy health insurance. However, five Justices agreed that the penalty that someone must pay if he refuses to buy insurance is a kind of tax that Congress can impose using its taxing power. That is all that matters. Because the mandate survives, the Court did not need to decide what other parts of the statute were constitutional, except for a provision that required states to comply with new eligibility requirements for Medicaid or risk losing their funding.

include

The Affordable Care Act, including its individual mandate that virtually all Americans buy health insurance, is constitutional.

individual

The Affordable Care Act, including its individual mandate that virtually all Americans buy health insurance, is constitutional.

mandate

The Affordable Care Act, including its individual mandate that virtually all Americans buy health insurance, is constitutional.

virtually

The Affordable Care Act, including its individual mandate that virtually all Americans buy health insurance, is constitutional.

health

The Affordable Care Act, including its individual mandate that virtually all Americans buy health insurance, is constitutional.

insurance

The Affordable Care Act, including its individual mandate that virtually all Americans buy health insurance, is constitutional.

constitutional

The Affordable Care Act, including its individual mandate that virtually all Americans buy health insurance, is constitutional.

uphold

There were not five votes to uphold it on the ground that Congress could use its power to regulate commerce between the states to require everyone to buy health insurance.

congress

There were not five votes to uphold it on the ground that Congress could use its power to regulate commerce between the states to require everyone to buy health insurance.

regulate

There were not five votes to uphold it on the ground that Congress could use its power to regulate commerce between the states to require everyone to buy health insurance.

commerce

There were not five votes to uphold it on the ground that Congress could use its power to regulate commerce between the states to require everyone to buy health insurance.

require

There were not five votes to uphold it on the ground that Congress could use its power to regulate commerce between the states to require everyone to buy health insurance.

justice

However, five Justices agreed that the penalty that someone must pay if he refuses to buy insurance is a kind of tax that Congress can impose using its taxing power.

refuse

However, five Justices agreed that the penalty that someone must pay if he refuses to buy insurance is a kind of tax that Congress can impose using its taxing power.

impose

However, five Justices agreed that the penalty that someone must pay if he refuses to buy insurance is a kind of tax that Congress can impose using its taxing power.

survive

Because the mandate survives, the Court did not need to decide what other parts of the statute were constitutional, except for a provision that required states to comply with new eligibility requirements for Medicaid or risk losing their funding.

court

Because the mandate survives, the Court did not need to decide what other parts of the statute were constitutional, except for a provision that required states to comply with new eligibility requirements for Medicaid or risk losing their funding.

statute

Because the mandate survives, the Court did not need to decide what other parts of the statute were constitutional, except for a provision that required states to comply with new eligibility requirements for Medicaid or risk losing their funding.

provision

Because the mandate survives, the Court did not need to decide what other parts of the statute were constitutional, except for a provision that required states to comply with new eligibility requirements for Medicaid or risk losing their funding.

comply

Because the mandate survives, the Court did not need to decide what other parts of the statute were constitutional, except for a provision that required states to comply with new eligibility requirements for Medicaid or risk losing their funding.

requirement

Because the mandate survives, the Court did not need to decide what other parts of the statute were constitutional, except for a provision that required states to comply with new eligibility requirements for Medicaid or risk losing their funding.

risk

Because the mandate survives, the Court did not need to decide what other parts of the statute were constitutional, except for a provision that required states to comply with new eligibility requirements for Medicaid or risk losing their funding.

funding

Because the mandate survives, the Court did not need to decide what other parts of the statute were constitutional, except for a provision that required states to comply with new eligibility requirements for Medicaid or risk losing their funding.

funds

On that question, the Court held that the provision is constitutional as long as states would only lose new funds if they didn't comply with the new requirements, rather than all of their funding.

Rate this wordlist:

Join the conversation

Comments from our users:

This is poorly written - in clarity, flow, and style. You also have not provided a proper citation. Elsewhere, this is credited to SCOTUSblog.com, but I believe the person addressing the issue was Amy Howe. Oddly though, none of her writing on the subject reflects the wording here. She, by contrast, seems to have a good command of the English language as a science and an art. I have provided her with a copy of the above and all other pertinent links. She may have written and posted this quickly as a first draft, which would account for the poorer quality. Regardless, she should have the opportunity to communicate her expectation this be properly cited or, elsewhere, to pursue and disassociate her name from writing which does not meet her usual standards.

Do you have a comment?

Share it with the Visual Thesaurus community.

Create a new Word List