King v. Burwell and the Chevron Doctrine: Did the Court Invite Judicial Activism?

President Barack Obama signed into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act 1 on March 23, 2010. The legislation, arguably President Obama’s signature achievement, enacted sweeping changes to the health care industry. The Act, among its many provisions, mandates health insurance coverage, expands Medicaid, establishes insurance exchanges, enacts changes to Medicare, introduces preventive health programs, and subjects individuals and employers to a number of penalties, taxes, and other assessments. 2 The legislation has generated significant controversy in the past five years. The Supreme Court, in a trilogy of highly publicized cases, upheld a significant part of the Act in the face of a constitutional challenge but also struck down certain provisions on both constitutional and statutory grounds. In 2012, the Court upheld what was perhaps the most contentious provision in the legislation—the so-called individual mandate, which is the requirement that individuals obtain health insurance coverage or face