In 2012, five justices signed on to opinions stating that Congress could not force private parties to buy insurance, because in so doing the federal government was creating commerce. The Constitution, they said, didn’t grant Congress the power to create commerce, only to regulate it. One of those five, John G. Roberts Jr., ruled that Congress did, however, have the right to impose a tax on all Americans who did not purchase insurance, which saved Obama’s healthcare plan. But since that ruling, Congress has repealed the tax, thereby removing the premise for Roberts’ crucial fifth vote upholding the constitutionality of Obamacare.
Source: latimes.com – Los Angeles Times