Don Kettl is the Dean of the School of Public Policy:

" The Supreme Court's decision is an epic victory for President Obama. Chief Justice Roberts did what many observers thought impossible--find a way to uphold the law without giving the federal government power to order citizens to act. On both important fronts--the individual mandate and state requirement--Roberts cleverly crafted a majority that not only gives the federal government the ability to create national standards and give citizens and states the ability to opt out, but to force them to weigh the consequences. Obama got his cake but in the way Roberts baked it. This decision fundamentally transforms health care in the US--and the presidential race.

Maryland bet heavily that the Court would reinforce its strategy--a first out of the box, best in class health care system. Virginia bet it could win a challenge. Maryland now has a huge head start--and Virginia has a long way to go in playing catch-up."

Ken Apfel is the former commissioner of the Social Security Administration and a member of the Maryland Exchange Board:

"A sigh of relief. The Supreme Court decision means that states can continue to move forward on their steps to provide health insurance for millions of uninsured Americans. We still have a long way to go in implementing the Affordable Care Act, but we are moving forward. The United States is currently the only developed country in the world that does not provide universal health coverage. The Supreme Court decision does not derail steps now underway to bring us closer to the goal of universal coverage."

"This is a major breakthrough and a major step forward for the country in addressing the most critical aspect of quality of life - health. The health of our population drives our economic engine, supports our defense activities and is what makes this country succeed. The law levels the health care playing field for all segments of our population and gives us the ability to really make a difference in our communities and nationally. "

Ritu Agarwal is the Robert H. Smith Dean's Chair of Information Systems; director of the Center for Health Information and Decision Systems; and advisor to Smith's Health Insurance Exchange Leadership Program:

"The Supreme Court decision has vindicated the belief that many of us share: our healthcare system is in need of transformations that will improve access, reduce costs, and enhance healthcare quality. Now the nation can move on to the important business of implementing all the envisioned changes. The State of Maryland is in a strong position: we have already made significant strides in quality measurement and health information and insurance exchanges. We want to become a model for the rest of the country to emulate."

Dr. Stephen B. Thomas is the director of the Maryland Center for Health Equity and professor of Health Services Administration in the School of Public Health:

"I think it is a great day to be an American. What this decision upheld is that health care is a right and that there is now going to be a commitment to promoting health and preventing disease. Our previous system allowed millions of Americans to fall through the cracks, our safety net had many holes, and unfortunately many of those people falling through the cracks were blacks and Latinos and other minority groups and that now will end.

The work here at the Maryland Center for Health Equity will be accelerated across the state of Maryland but also across the nation. This spring, Governor O'Malley signed the Maryland Health Improvement and Disparities Reduction Act of 2012, and that law was based on the Affordable Care Act and its provisions.

With this ruling upholding the Affordable Care Act, we can now move forward aggressively to close the gap on racial and ethnic minority health disparities. We should be proud as a university to be part of the state's efforts in this area. I am proud as a member of the School of Public Health to be in a leading role to help the state implement this. As Marylanders, we can all be proud to be part of a national model that other states can emulate."

Jack Meyer is a Professor of the Practice at the Schools of Public Policy and Public Health at the University of Maryland, and a Managing Principal with Health Management Associates in Washington, DC.

"Today's ruling by the US Supreme Court means that tens of millions of Americans who are left out of our health insurance system will get access to health care, many for the first time in their lives. This will relieve the terrible suffering that accompanies untreated chronic illness, avoid preventable, premature deaths, and reduce the growth in total health spending over time. Hundreds of innovative approaches spawned by the health reform law to improve the delivery of health care, reduce tragic medical errors, and increase efficiency, will proceed. We will continue the transition from a system that rewards excessive volume of care to one that rewards better health outcomes.

The Court's ruling on Medicaid expansion, a reasonable compromise, nonetheless necessitates that the federal government and the states work together cooperatively to assure that the great majority of states participate in this expansion. If large numbers of states opt out of the expansion, this would lead to a serious inequity, as millions of Americans with moderate and low incomes receive subsidies through Health Insurance Exchanges while millions of others with much lower incomes receive no help at all as they continue to be screened out of Medicaid. This inequity can be avoided if the federal government recognizes states' serious fiscal situation and finds ways to help them afford their comparatively small, but still significant financial contribution to Medicaid expansion."

Ben Shneiderman is a professor in the Department of Computer Science and an expert in electronic health records.

"Universal health care is a vital national priority which will benefit all Americans, especially if interoperable systems support sharing of patient histories. Researchers and clinicians can then identify patterns of disease, compare treatment outcomes, and promote quality care for every patient. Reducing medical errors from the current rate (3 times as many daily deaths as from car accidents), becomes a realizable goal if access to medical history data enables researchers to study outcomes for every patient, while preserving privacy."

Ruth Zambrana is the director of the Consortium on Race, Gender and Ethnicity at the University of Maryland and a professor in the Department of Women's Studies

"The Supreme Court's ruling Wednesday was a victory not only for public and medical health personnel but more importantly for the American people. In 1935 we lost an opportunity to assure the health of all Americans when the US withdrew its support from a national health insurance program that Western Europe adopted. Today 77 years later  we witnessed the highest court understand the needs of our nation and vote to strengthen the core of the American people.

Good health is a necessity and must be available to all if we are to be a productive and healthy nation. We can now be assured that our future generations of Americans will have access to health care. No better legacy can be left for the future."