The U.S. Supreme Court recently heard oral arguments that will be instrumental in determining the fate of the Affordable Care Act. Since the 2017 tax reform legislation reduced the individual mandate to $0, many challenged whether the ACA was constitutional–in other words, whether it could be considered a valid exercise of Congress’ power to tax. Confirmation of new Supreme Court justice Amy Barrett created the real possibility that the ACA could be overturned. However, after hearing oral arguments, two conservative justices–Roberts and Kavanaugh–indicated their support for severance. If that happens, the individual mandate portion of the ACA would be severed from the remainder of the law.
