The Waiting Continues

This is the week for the Supreme Court's ruling on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare).  Everyone is weighing in on what the ruling will be.  So I figured why not weigh in, as well.  Actually, I have about as much to offer in the area of expertise as everyone else so why not.  My guess --because it is simply that, a guess--is that the individual mandate will be struck down, but other aspects of the law will be upheld. The Court will focus on the constitutionality of the law as they did with Arizona's Immigration Reform, which they ruled on today.   What such a ruling means, however, is that it presents a number of challenges for Marylanders.  It puts pressure on Medicaid with increased enrollment; access to care may be threatened; those with pre-existing conditions may be denied coverage; varied premiums for healthier employees would be put in jeopardy and the increase in uninsured will increase the amount of uncompensated care. 

I read about an interesting poll today whereby the majority of Americans like the provisions in the Act but don't like how it was enacted by Congress and the President.  Tomorrow, I will blog about what it would mean for Marylanders if the entire Act is overturned. In fact, I will blog all week about the Affordable Care Act leading up to the Supreme Court's announcement of their ruling on Thursday.