In one of the most controversial and closely watched cases in decades, the U.S. Supreme Court, by a 5-4 vote, upheld the constitutionality of most of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, President Barack Obama’s signature legislative accomplishment. In the most notable part of the decision, the Court upheld the act’s mandate requiring individuals to purchase health insurance or pay a penalty.
The majority opinion, written by Chief Justice John Roberts Jr., first found that the Anti-Injunction Act, which prohibits court challenges to taxes until the tax has actually been paid, did not bar the challenge to the individual mandate, since Congress did not intend the mandate to be a tax for the purposes of the Anti-Injunction Act, but rather intended it to be a penalty.