Many Links About ObamaCare

Last week, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in a 5-4 decision that the Affordable Care Act, or "ObamaCare", as called by its detractors, was constitutional. Or rather, the individual mandate, that was the primary mechanism for funding of ACA, was legal because the consequences of not buying health insurance amounted to a tax, in a majority opinion authored by Chief Justice John Roberts. The Supreme Court's five conservatives, which included Roberts, still found it unconstitutional under the Commerce Clause, contradicting years of precedent and many Constitutional legal scholars' findings.

(Disclosure: I am a liberal. I am pleased that a policy that addresses our nation's barely existent healthcare system was passed through Congress by popularly elected representatives and survived every constitutional challenge up to the highest court of the United States. That is truly democracy in action. On the other hand, there is much to be done to bring the US healthcare system in line with the rest of the developed world.)

Below, I've collected various articles of interest related to the ACA and the Supreme Court decision.

• Josh Marshall of TPM dissects the short-lived call for a single-payer system. 
• Erin Ryan of Jezebel discusses a common practice in the US - marrying for health insurance benefits and discusses whether ObamaCare would end the practice. Not explored: separated couples not divorcing because of cheaper health insurance benefits; abusive spouses holding health insurance as blackmail for their significant others, etc.
• US healthcare is too expensive for a musician with health insurance, so he's moving to Norway. "And, yes, I understand that the free Norwegian health care is bundled into the costs of daily life there. Higher prices for items like gas, alcohol, candy, and automobiles support a political culture where looking out for the weakest in society is considered natural, even among most conservatives. If we do end up spending more on our living expenses there, and I never see another health document with thousands of dollars billed, I'll consider it very worth the move for my soul."
• The benefits of ObamaCare for women. In short, Obamacare will increase health-insurance coverage for women, lower their health-care costs—and end the worst insurance-industry abuses against them.
• ObamaCare, explained to you like a five-year-old. Without oversimplification.