CASE

The Case

The case we will be trying is National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius (2012).

Question Presented

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) was passed by Congress on March 23, 2010, amidst significant public interest. The purpose of the ACA was to address the issue of millions of Americans who had no health insurance but were actively consuming health care services for which they did not pay.

To address the issue, the ACA included three key provisions: 1) a provision mandating that non-exempt individuals purchase and maintain a minimum level of health insurance by 2014 or pay a yearly tax penalty. 2) A provision that expanded Medicaid, which states had to accept to receive federal funds for Medicaid, and 3) a provision that required employers to provide health coverage for their employees.

Following the passage of the ACA, Florida and 12 other states challenged the constitutionality of the ACA. The National Federation of Independent Businesses and individual plaintiffs also joined the lawsuit.

The plaintiffs argued that 1) the individual mandate exceeded Congress' powers under the Commerce Clause, 2) the Medicaid expansions were unconstitutionally coercive towards the states, and 3) the employer mandate impermissibly interfered with state sovereignty.

We will consider each of those three claims, and only those three. Issues about the Anti-Injunction Act, severability, or any other issue pertaining to the real case are outside of the scope of this competition.