Which Supreme Court case ruled that states cannot be forced to participate in the PPACA's Medicaid expansion?

• A. Roe v. Wade
• B. Brown v. Board
• C. Miranda v. Arizona
• D. National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius

Answer: (D)

The main idea here is how much power the federal government can use to push states to adopt national health policy. In National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius, the Supreme Court ruled that the federal government cannot force states to participate in the PPACA’s Medicaid expansion by threatening to withdraw all existing Medicaid funding. That coercive approach crosses a constitutional line, so the expansion must be offered in a way that leaves states free to decide whether to participate. In practice, this means the expansion can go forward, but states can choose not to participate without losing all of their Medicaid funds. The other listed cases deal with unrelated issues—abortion rights, school desegregation, and police interrogation rights—so they don’t address Medicaid expansion or the federal-state coercion question.