The Supreme Court recently ruled to uphold the Affordable Care Act. Dr. Robert Field, a professor at Drexel University's School of Public Health and Earle Mack School of Law, provides his expert opinion and reaction to the historic ruling. According to Dr. Field:
"The ruling is unexpected but is actually consistent with the tenor of the questioning when the case was heard. The conservative justices seemed much more receptive to the mandate when it was framed as a tax than when it was framed as the regulation of interstate commerce.
The ruling upheld the mandate in the narrowest possible way. It creates no precedent expanding Congress's commerce power. It keys off of Congress's taxing power, which is already extremely broad.
The decision can be seen as a win for both sides. Obama's law stands, and conservatives don't have to worry about a precedent that expands federal power."
Dr. Robert Field was quoted in an article on the Supreme Court’s health care ruling on ABCNews.com and in a HealthDay article that was picked up by U.S News and World Report and MSN Health on June 29. He was also interviewed on WHYY’s Radio Times, KYW Newsradio (1060-AM) and KFBK radio (Sacramento) on June 28. Also on June 28, he participated in a live chat on Philly.com.
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Dr. Robert Field Biography
Dr. Robert Field is a nationally known expert on health law and public health whose research focuses on ethical issues in managed care, public policy and legal facets of health care reform and genetic screening.
He is the author of Health Care Regulation in America: Complexity, Confrontation and Compromise, a comprehensive guide to the government's role in regulating health care in the United States. He also blogs regularly on behalf of the Philadelphia Inquirer. He can be followed on Twitter at @RobertIField.
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