Health Insurance Mandate Nullified

While it's the only article on the topic I've read so far, it's probably the best one out there,
Health insurance mandate nullified by Lyle Denniston for SCOTUSBlog.

"The finding that Congress did not have authority under the Commerce Clause to pass the mandate was the most significant part of the decision.  ‘At its core,’ the judge wrote, ‘this dispute is not simply about regulating the business of insurance — or crafting a scheme of universal health insurance coverage — it’s about an individual’s right to choose to participate.’"

"The grant of power to Congress to pass laws “necessary and proper” to carrying out its constitutional duties, the judge said, is not without its limitations. That Clause provides no authority for Congress to act unless it is seeking to carry out one of its enumerated powers — that is, one of the powers expressly assigned to Congress by the Constitution, the judge noted. Since there was no authority to pass the measure under the Commerce Clause, the Necessary and Proper Clause cannot supply it, according to the ruling."

"Treating the penalty that could be assessed for those who failure to get insurance by 2014 as if it were a tax penalty, enforced under the federal tax code, government officials had argued that Congress could use a tax measure as a way to promote the General Welfare. But Judge Hudson refused to accept that the penalty was, in fact, a form of tax. Congress did not intend the insurance mandate to be a revenue-raising measure, but rather a regulatory law, and the penalty is part of the regulatory scheme, the judge found. “The use of the term ‘tax’ appears to be a tactic to achieve enlarged regulatory license,” the judge wrote."