Morning Edition

Transcript

LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:

Just last week, Republican leaders were warning their rank and file not to gloat if the health care law were overturned. Well, after the decision came yesterday, GOP leaders regrouped and vowed to keep fighting. NPR's Andrea Seabrook reports.

ANDREA SEABROOK, BYLINE: House Majority Leader Eric Cantor stepped up to the microphone.

REPRESENTATIVE ERIC CANTOR: If for nothing else, today's health care decision underscores the importance of this election.

Transcript

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

The Supreme Court's decision on health care yesterday was just one of several handed down this week. The justices also struck down mandatory life sentences for juveniles, citing cruel and unusual punishment.

LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:

There are more than 2,000 inmates serving mandatory life sentences for crimes they committed as minors. The high court said judges should be allowed to consider mitigating factors such as a young defendant's immaturity or the circumstances of his or her upbringing.

Transcript

LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:

This is MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm Linda Wertheimer.

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

And I'm Renee Montagne. The Supreme Court's decision to uphold President Obama's health care law defied many predictions: the outcome, the legal grounds, and the makeup of the court majority. For Chief Justice John Roberts, his definitive court opinion was either a triumph of judicial restraint, or a sellout, depending on who you talk to.

The Supreme Court's decision removes much of the uncertainty for businesses involved in health care. Renee Montagne talks to Karen Ignani of America's Health Insurance Plans, the insurance industry's trade group, about the impact of the Supreme Court's ruling on the health care law.

It's 9:45 a.m. Thursday at the headquarters of Health Plan One, a health insurance agency that sells private policies. It's the morning of what is the biggest court decision ever regarding health insurance. Will the court uphold the health-care bill? Will it strike it down?

"Either way is fine with me," says Bill Stapleton, the company's CEO.

Bishop Ricardo Ramirez's grandmother lived a long and full life. But it was the way Francisca Espitia approached her final years that may have impressed her grandson the most.

Ramirez, 75, recently visited StoryCorps to remember his grandmother, whom he called Panchita, in a family story that begins in 1981. That's when he was elevated to bishop in the church. The occasion called for a reception — so Ramirez called his grandmother.

Depending on whom you ask, the Supreme Court's decision to uphold the federal health care law will either help businesses grow or it will make them more hesitant to hire.

Thursday's decision to uphold the law, including the provision requiring individuals to buy insurance, has some far-reaching implications in the business world.

Dan Danner, CEO of the National Federation of Independent Business, a business lobby that helped bankroll the suit seeking to strike down the law, said the 5-4 decision was unambiguously bad for business.

The Supreme Court's decision to uphold nearly all of the Affordable Care Act may move the debate to the presidential campaign trail. But it shifts much of the burden of implementing the law to the states.

States are actually responsible for the lion's share of getting people without insurance covered under the health law.

Transcript

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

We have been devoting this hour of MORNING EDITION to the Supreme Court's decision upholding President Obama's signature health care law that came through less than two hours ago. Within minutes of the court's decision to uphold the Affordable Care Act, health care related stocks swung up and then down.

LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:

Transcript

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

This is MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm Renee Montagne.

LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:

And I'm Linda Wertheimer. In a momentous and long-anticipated ruling, the Supreme Court has decided to uphold President Obama's health care law. The decision is a major victory for the president.

MONTAGNE: His challenger, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, will offer his own response in a few moments. For their part, House Republicans have vowed to repeal the law.

The entire health care sphere has been bracing for what might happen and all the chaos that might ensue from what the court might do, but the ruling doesn't change much about the Affordable Care Act.

There was a lot of speculation about how the Supreme Court would decide, but almost every prognostication was wrong: from who the swing vote would be (it was Chief Justice John Roberts, who wrote the opinion), to what the basis for the opinion would be (it wasn't the Commerce Clause).

The law was upheld thanks to Chief Justice John Roberts, who sided with the court's more liberal wing, on a very narrow grounds: Instead of saying Congress has the authority to regulate interstate commerce, they said Congress has the authority to levy taxes. And the penalty for people who do not have health care is a tax and therefore constitutional.

Renee Montagne and Linda Wertheimer has the latest on the Supreme Court's ruling on the Affordable Care Act. The court ruled that the law — with its "individual mandate," or requirement that virtually all Americans buy health insurance — is constitutional.

Transcript

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

The Supreme Court has just wrapped up its term with one of the most consequential cases in decades.

LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:

The justices have ruled that the landmark health care law that has become a signature of Barack Obama's presidency is largely upheld. The opinions run hundreds of pages. We're looking at all those pages now and we'll bring you detailed news and analysis all morning.

Comedian Louis C.K. sold out his tour while bypassing ticket services like Ticketmaster. He sold tickets on his website for a flat fee of $45. He raised $4.5 million.

Transcript

LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:

Good morning. I'm Linda Wertheimer with a culinary misadventure. Even before Austrian police pulled over three trucks near the Hungarian border yesterday, they could sense something kinky - make that stinky. The trucks had foreign license plates, were way overloaded and police did not need sniffer dogs to know what kind of contraband they'd captured. More than nine tons of stolen Spanish garlic, presumably bound for goulash. It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio.

Transcript

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

Good morning. I'm Renee Montagne. The NBA draft is today. And the likely number one pick has two amazing physical features. Anthony Davis is 6'10" and he'll make millions with his shot-blocking skills. He's also got a famous unibrow. Davis has just trademarked the phrases his unbroken brow has inspired - fear the brow and raise the brow. Davis told CNBC not even a deal with a razor company could get him to shave it. It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio.