[ti:The Supreme Court to Decide if the Government Can Require Health Coverage]
[ar:June Simms]
[al:Economics Report]
[by:www.21voa.com]
[00:00.00]This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.
[00:05.29]The highest court in the United States is considering
[00:09.72]the constitutionality of the new health care law.
[00:14.25]The Supreme Court heard three days of arguments this week
[00:18.85]over the question of what is called the individual mandate.
[00:24.47]It is part of the Affordable Care Act,
[00:27.66]which Congress passed and President Obama
[00:31.04]signed into law two years ago.
[00:34.34]The individual mandate requires all Americans
[00:39.35]to buy health insurance by twenty fourteen or face a fine.
[00:44.54]Twenty-six states and a group representing
[00:48.73]small businesses say the law is unconstitutional.
[00:53.12]If the law takes effect,
[00:55.65]about thirty million Americans not currently covered
[00:59.34]will have to join the health insurance system.
[01:02.29]Supporters say this will reduce health care costs for all Americans.
[01:08.47]For opponents, the question is whether the federal government
[01:13.19]has the right to tell people what they can or cannot do.
[01:18.58]During arguments, Justice Antonin Scalia put the question this way.
[01:24.45]ANTONIN SCALIA: "The federal government
[01:25.99]is not supposed to be a government that has all powers,
[01:29.13]that it is supposed to be a government of limited powers
[01:31.62]and that is what all this questioning is about.
[01:33.31]What is left?
[01:35.15]If the government can do this, what else can it not do?"
[01:39.05]The Obama administration says
[01:41.89]the law has already helped millions of Americans.
[01:45.38]It says over two million young people
[01:48.86]have remained on their parents' health insurance plans
[01:52.31]since September twenty ten.
[01:54.06]Before then, many young people lost health coverage
[01:59.38]after they left home or reached a certain age.
[02:03.02]Health care costs are growing at a rate
[02:06.85]that many experts say cannot be supported.
[02:10.44]The Council of Economic Advisers
[02:13.69]advises the president on economic issues.
[02:17.42]It warns that, at the current growth rate,
[02:21.66]health care spending will be responsible
[02:24.26]for thirty-four percent of the economy by twenty forty.
[02:29.13]Currently, health care is almost one fifth of the economy.
[02:34.57]That is a big problem for the federal government.
[02:39.00]It pays for Medicare, health insurance for older adults,
[02:43.84]and Medicaid, the program for poor people.
[02:48.25]And as the population ages,
[02:51.30]more people will depend on these programs.
[02:54.53]During the arguments this week,
[02:57.37]Justice Stephen Breyer noted the issue's importance.
[03:01.90]STEPHEN BREYER: "It shows there is a national problem
[03:05.38]and it shows there is a national problem
[03:08.22]that involves money, cost and insurance."
[03:13.50]The high court is expected to rule
[03:15.70]on the individual mandate in June.
[03:18.74]But the effects of the ruling are expected
[03:22.37]to influence health care policy for years to come.
[03:27.05]And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report.
[03:32.08]To read and hear news and information for people learning English,
[03:37.55]and for transcripts go to 51voa.com.
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[03:53.80]at VOA Learning English.
[03:56.58]I'm June Simms.