<\/strong>Now that the Supreme Court has upheld the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, \u00a0Republicans\u00a0 have lost their main argument against it. So, naturally, they\u2019ve switched arguments\u2014and they are now calling the healthcare mandate the biggest tax hike in the history of the world. It\u2019s not. And people who understand the massive upside of the new healthcare law need to get this story straight and fight back with the facts about ACA.<\/p>\n

First, let\u2019s remember that the Roberts Court, the most conservative Supreme Court in US history, just upheld the health care law as constitutional. They upheld its constitutionality by stating that health care costs are a national crisis, and that our Constitution empowers our elected leaders to create national solutions. The court also affirmed that the individual mandate is a constitutional fee that you don\u2019t<\/em> pay if you already have health insurance. The Court agreed that the rest of us shouldn\u2019t keep paying for free riders.<\/p>\n

Now, about that \u201cit\u2019s a huge tax\u201d argument<\/strong><\/p>\n

Seriously? This argument is coming from Mitt Romney and Republicans in Congress who have all endorsed a tax plan<\/a> to make you pay more taxes so the richest few can pay less. [And are Republicans willing to call the virtually identical law passed in Romney\u2019s Massachusetts a tax on that state\u2019s citizens?]<\/p>\n

In fact, the Court\u2019s decision to uphold the health care law will result in the largest health care tax cut in American history<\/a>,\u00a0 with families and small businesses benefiting the most. Under the law, millions of families will receive hundreds of billions of dollars in tax credits<\/em> to help them pay for insurance in the new exchanges. This tax relief for working families will make insurance more affordable for those who can\u2019t get it through work or whose employer insurance is too expensive. The act also provides financial assistance to reduce out-of-pocket costs for moderate and low-income eligible Americans.<\/p>\n

Who pays? Free riders<\/strong><\/p>\n

The “individual mandate” is really just a free rider fee for people who can afford health care but would rather stick the rest of us with the bill.\u00a0 Having health insurance is and will continue to be a choice. But for those who can afford insurance and choose not to buy it, the Court said it’s constitutional to charge them a fee, so the rest of us don’t have to pay for their care for free. So a tiny percentage of free riders — between just 2 and 5 percent<\/a> of Americans — will pay a small fee, while millions of families and small business owners that take responsibility for their care will get tax credits. And please note: The \u201cindividual mandate\u201d doesn\u2019t impact anyone who already has health insurance. And for those who can\u2019t afford it, there’s help<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Bottom line, the Supreme Court\u2019s decision is a victory for American families. Sure, it\u2019s not the single-payer plan that many on the left would prefer. But it means lower costs, more coverage, and the beginning of the end of the health-insurance rip-offs that we\u2019ve endured for far too long.<\/p>\n

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Now that the Supreme Court has upheld the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, \u00a0Republicans\u00a0 have lost their main argument against it. So, naturally,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":16888,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[294,255,29,994,572,128,113,10,16],"tags":[1265,1368,647],"yoast_head":"\n