Background

Business v. Sebelius, the highly anticipated case regarding challenges to the Affordable Care Act (ACA), on June 28, 2012. In a 5-4 decision, the Court upheld the constitution-ality of the ACA, including the requirement that most individuals obtain health insur-ance or pay a tax (commonly known as the “individual mandate”), as well as the ACA’s expansion of Medicaid. However, the Court struck down the federal government’s abil-ity to withhold all Medicaid funding from states that do not expand Medicaid eligibil-ity. While the Court’s decision provides clar-ity on the current status of the law, there remains as many questions as answers about whether and how the ACA will affect states and physicians