Obamacare Will Affect Research

The Supreme Court's decision to uphold President Barack Obama's health care reform law contains key provisions that will impact US science funding in the years to come.

Written byBob Grant

| 2 min read

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US Supreme CourtWIKIMEDIA COMMONS, ©JAREK TUSZYNSKI

In an historic moment, the US Supreme Court voted 5-4 yesterday (June 28) to uphold President Barack Obama's health care reform law—colloquially known as the Affordable Care Act—by declaring the law's so-called "individual mandate," which levies a tax or fine if individual citizens fail to carry health insurance, constitutionally valid. Though it is the general public that will feel the main impact of the health care law, the legislation also includes key provisions, protected by today's ruling, that benefit biomedical research.

"With this ruling, what we have is the turning of a page and a new chapter," said Mary Wooley, CEO of science advocacy group Research!America. "It is time to be talking about research and innovation as a major driver in health care."

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Meet the Author

Bob Grant
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From 2017 to 2022, Bob Grant was Editor in Chief of The Scientist, where he started in 2007 as a Staff Writer. Before joining the team, he worked as a reporter at Audubon and earned a master’s degree in science journalism from New York University. In his previous life, he pursued a career in science, getting a bachelor’s degree in wildlife biology from Montana State University and a master’s degree in marine biology from the College of Charleston in South Carolina. Bob edited Reading Frames and other sections of the magazine.
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