The Supreme Court this month – probably June 28 but maybe a bit earlier – will rule on the Affordable Care Act.
The central question is whether the individual mandate is constitutional. If the mandate is struck down, with or without some related insurance market rules, it pokes a huge hole in the 2010 health care law.
We’re going to post a longer, separate item on what reporters need to understand about the next steps in policy – and how it might play out in the states. But first here are some quick resources on what the policy alternatives might be (short of repealing the law entirely, as many Republicans have proposed).
We start with a GAO report that outlines alternatives, then an insurance industry site, an assortment of articles and a blog post from a very good industry analyst:
- GAO report: Expert Views on Approaches to Encourage Voluntary Enrollment
- America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), the main insurance industry trade group, outlines its views, and summarizes state experiments, at its “The Link” website.
- The Mandate Miscalculation, by Paul Starr, The New Republic
- Experts Ponder ‘Plan B’ Options For The Individual Mandate, Joanne Kenen, Kaiser Health News
- Backup plans if individual mandate is struck down, Brett Norman, Politico
- Eleven Alternatives to Obamacare’s Individual Mandate, Peter Coy, BusinessWeek
- What Is the Individual Mandate and What If It’s Declared Unconstitutional?, Susan Dentzer, PBS Newshour
- Alternatives to the Individual Mandate-Some Are A Lot Better Than Others, Bob Laszewski’s blog, “Health Care Policy and Marketplace Review”
- Affordable Care Act & the Supreme Court: What you need to know, T.R. Goldman for AHCJ
Joanne Kenen (@JoanneKenen) is AHCJ’s health reform topic leader. If you have questions or suggestions for future resources, please send them to joanne@healthjournalism.org.
Resources for explaining, localizing Supreme Court’s ACA decision
Responses to the Supreme Court’s Health Policy decision
Webcast: To assist reporters who will need to localize the decision and what it means for their states and communities, AHCJ will host a one-hour online roundtable on Friday, June 29, noon ET, to offer suggestions on stories you can pursue right away and in the weeks ahead.
A quick guide to covering the Supreme Court ruling on Health Policy
The Supreme Court’s Health Policy decision: What you need to know
Still plenty to watch, report on as Supreme Court considers Health Policy law
Webinar: Implementing Health Policy in the states
Covering state responses to Supreme Court decision on Affordable Care Act
Get familiar with alternatives to ACA’s individual mandate
AHCJ is committed to helping you cover this milestone decision. For many valuable tips and resources, visit our Health Policy topic page, compiled by Health Policy topic leader Joanne Kenen.
