Supremes Week
It was the Supremes all week, exceeding exceedingly low expectations. They struck down most of Arizona’s obnoxious anti-immigrant law on Tuesday, and on the same day found that mandatory life without parole sentences for juveniles are 100% unconstitutional. Yesterday, a bare majority including extra-conservative Chief Justice John Roberts upheld Obamacare.
Good thing. The Transgender Law Center pointed out that the Supreme Court’s affirmation of the Affordable Care Act means the provisions protecting transgender people from discrimination based on gender identity remain in place.
As for the rest of the decision, remember that the ACA did not reform health care; it reformed the health care insurance industry. Reforming health care itself would have thrown the insurance companies out altogether, but that was politically impossible, so the ACA started with the assumption that insurance companies would continue to play a central role in the U.S. health care system, and tried to make that industry a little more fair and affordable.
Though I’ve developed a tic in my left eye – not covered – from dealing with health insurance companies, there’s nothing inherently horrible about insurance. In fact, insurance is built on a profoundly moral notion. Read more…