Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius addressed the George Washington University School of Public Health and Human Services on the impact of the Supreme Court's decision upholding the Affordable Care Act on public health and access to health care.
Last month, the Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act in its entirety, with the exception of some limitations the court placed on the Act's Medicaid expansion. The court ruled that the federal government could not withhold Medicaid funding to states that refused to expand the program, which provides health care coverage to low income families.
The court upheld the individual mandate, stating that the penalty for not purchasing insurance functions as a tax, which the federal government has the right to levy.