UCI dean weighs in on Supreme Court’s health-care ruling

In the wake of Thursday morning’s 5-4 Supreme Court decision on President Obama’s controversial health care legislation, National Public Radio (NPR) asked prominent scholars and lawyers for their take on the issue.

Among those who provided legal analysis was Erwin Chemerinsky, the founding dean at the UC Irvine School of Law.

“The Supreme Court’s decision does not change the law in the way that striking down the law would have. Since 1937, not one federal taxing or spending program has been declared unconstitutional. Today’s decision follows from that,” Chemerinsky said.

“The individual mandate really is a tax — it is a flat rate or a small percentage of income collected by the IRS on those who do not have health insurance. All will need health care and thus all should be paying for the system.”

For more on the issue from Chemerinsky and others, click here.