As we set­tle into another major elec­tion year, many leg­isla­tive issues per­tain to ONS’s Health Pol­icy Agenda, but none as impor­tant as the next steps in the Patient Pro­tec­tion and Afford­able Care Act (PPACA), which will take full effect begin­ning in 2013. In the mean­time, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear a land­mark case next month about the con­sti­tu­tion­al­ity of the act, and its deci­sion will have last­ing effects—some antic­i­pated, oth­ers unforeseen.

The pres­i­dent signed the PPACA in March 2010, and it was viewed as a giant step for­ward in chang­ing health­care. The bill con­tains ele­ments such as

• Reform of health insur­ance cov­er­age (access and afford­abil­ity issues)
• Expan­sion of full cov­er­age for chil­dren to age 26
• Access to can­cer screenings
• Work­force and edu­ca­tion funding
• Patient pre­ven­tion and treat­ment investments

How­ever, as the eco­nomic cli­mate wors­ened, peo­ple viewed the bill as puni­tive. State gov­ern­ments saw this bill as another fed­eral man­date with­out fund­ing assis­tance to off­set increas­ing costs to Medicare and Med­ic­aid. Sev­eral states filed law­suits in fed­eral court, charg­ing that the bill was uncon­sti­tu­tional. Three courts upheld the law, but one declared the indi­vid­ual man­date unconstitutional.

Once a deci­sion is handed down, health care in the United States will be dif­fer­ent, and ONS will keep you informed on this land­mark deci­sion. For more infor­ma­tion on the PPACA case, visit www​.supre​me​court​.gov/​d​o​c​k​e​t​/​P​PAACA.aspx.