House to hold hearing on implications of Supreme Court ruling

The House Ways and Means Committee will hold a hearing next week on the "tax ramifications" of the Supreme Court's ruling on the healthcare law.

The July 10 hearing will mark the first chance for members of Congress to formally hash out the surprise ruling, which allowed the law's mandate to buy health insurance by treating it as a tax, even though Chief Justice John Roberts said it could not be upheld as a way to regulate commerce under the Commerce Clause.

Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) said he disagrees with that ruling — as did most other Republicans — and said the hearing would help assess the meaning behind it and inform ways to repeal the bill.

"As the tax-writing committee of the U.S. House of Representatives — where, under the Constitution, all revenue measures must originate — we have a responsibility to fully understand the court's interpretation of Congress's taxing authority and what that means for potential actions taken by future Congresses, the future of our country and the relationship that the government has with the American people," Camp said.

Camp's announcement said the hearing would focus on the implications of the court's finding that "the individual mandate is constitutional on the grounds that it is a tax and that Congress has the broad power to levy taxes far beyond the historic scope of raising revenue."

Witnesses for the hearing were not set as of Tuesday.

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