Health Care Reform Law Upheld - KAUZ-TV: Newschannel 6 Now | Wichita Falls, TX

The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld President Barack Obama's health care reform law, The Affordable Care Act, as a whole. However, not all provisions of the ruling were upheld.

The decision means the historic overhaul will continue to take effect over the next several years, affecting the way countless Americans receive and pay for their personal medical care.

The Supreme Court upheld one of the most controversial provisions under the act, the Individual Mandate, requiring most Americans buy health insurance by 2015 or face a tax penalty. Justices also upheld the provision requiring insurance companies to cover Americans who have pre-existing conditions. The provision that children can remain on their parents' health insurance coverage plans until they turn 26, was also upheld.

However, the U.S. Supreme Court found problems with the law's expansion of Medicaid. It allowed the expansion to proceed as long as the federal government does not threaten to withhold the entire Medicaid allotment to states if they don't take part in the extension.

The court's four liberal justices, Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor, joined Chief Justice John Roberts in the outcome.

Newschannel 6 will have more on this decision.