Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/20pdf/19-840_6jfm.pdf
Page Number: 30.0

Cite as:  593 U. S. ____ (2021) 

5 

ALITO, J., dissenting 

other critical provisions, King, 576 U. S., at 482, including 
the critical “guaranteed issue” and “community rating” pro-
visions,  which  ensured  that  individuals  with  preexisting
medical conditions would not be denied coverage or pay un-
usually  high  premiums.  See,  e.g.,  42  U. S. C.  §§300gg, 
300gg–1(a).  Put simply, “Congress found that the guaran-
teed issue and community rating  requirements would not 
work without the” individual mandate.  King, 576 U. S., at 
482. 

Several additional features of the ACA are important in
this  suit.  First,  certain  employers,  including  the  state
plaintiffs, must offer employees the opportunity to enroll in 
costly “minimum essential [healthcare] coverage,” and the 
Act demands that such plans cover an employee’s depend-
ent  children  until  they  turn  26.    26  U. S. C.  §4980H;  42 
U. S. C. §300gg–14.  Most employers that fail to offer this 
coverage are subject to a hefty penalty of thousands of dol-
lars per employee.  26 U. S. C. §§4980H(a), (b), (c)(1). 

The  ACA  also  imposes  burdensome  reporting  require-
ments  on  certain  employers  like  the  state  plaintiffs.    See 
§§6055, 6056.  Under §6055 of the Internal Revenue Code,
employers  that  “provid[e]  minimum  essential  coverage” 
must submit documentation every year to both the Internal 
Revenue  Service  and  the  covered  individuals.  §§6055(a)– 
(c).  Section 6056 imposes similar reporting obligations on
“[e]very applicable large employer” subject to the employer 
mandate.  See  §§6056(a)–(c).    Failure  to  satisfy  these  re-
porting  requirements  can  result  in  substantial  monetary
penalties.  See §§6721, 6722. 

B 
Although  the  ACA  survived  this  Court’s  decisions  in 
NFIB and King, it remained controversial, and in 2017, a 
major effort was made to repeal much of it.  A bill to do just
that passed the House of Representatives in May, but soon 
after failed in the Senate.  See American Health Care Act