All Things Considered

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MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

And now to the deputy whip in the House of Representatives, Republican Peter Roskam, congressman of Illinois. Welcome back to the program.

REPRESENTATIVE PETER ROSKAM: Thank you.

BLOCK: We heard the president today call this a victory for people all over the country, millions of uninsured people gaining insurance. Why not a victory?

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AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Audie Cornish.

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

And I'm Melissa Block. Two years ago, a backlash against the Obama administration's health care law helped propel Republicans to a House majority and today's Supreme Court ruling upholding the law prompted more Republican calls for repeal. Here's the speaker of the House, John Boehner.

REPRESENTATIVE JOHN BOEHNER: Today's ruling underscores the urgency of repealing this harmful law in its entirety.

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MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

We want to find out what today's ruling means for someone who's had difficulty with his health-care coverage. So we're turning to Shawn Pollock. He's 30 years old. He said he had excellent benefits until he was laid off from his job at a TV station, in 2009. He couldn't afford insurance, even under COBRA. And then he got viral meningitis and was hospitalized, leading him to be labeled high risk when he applied for insurance.

Shawn Pollock joins me now from Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Welcome to the program.

SHAWN POLLACK: Thank you.

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MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

Now to the attorney general of Ohio, Republican Mike DeWine. Ohio was among the plaintiffs seeking to strike down the Affordable Care Act. And again, they ended up on the losing side today as the court upheld the law, including the individual mandate. Mike DeWine, welcome to the program.

MIKE DEWINE: Good to be back. Thank you very much.

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MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

For President Obama, today's high court ruling brought vindication. It would have been a stinging embarrassment for the former constitutional law professor had his signature domestic policy been struck down as unconstitutional. NPR's Scott Horsley reports on the political impact of the ruling.