High Court Tackles Healthcare Reform

During six hours over three days, the U.S. Supreme Court recently heard oral argument on the four big issues at the heart of the lawsuit challenging the Healthcare Reform Law as unconstitutional.

Four federal appeals courts have already considered the constitutionality of the law. Two panels said the law passes constitutional muster. One said it was too soon to decide the question. A fourth ruled parts of the law unconstitutional.

The Supreme Court agreed to hear the government’s appeal of the last decision, a case out of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, originally filed by attorneys general from 26 states.

The four issues:

1. Will those opposed to the law have to wait until 2014 to challenge it, when the key provision, the individual mandate, actually goes into effect?
2. Is the individual mandate requiring all Americans to buy some form of health insurance or face penalties coverage constitutional?
3. If the mandate is struck down, what other parts of the law would fall along with it?
4. Can states be forced by the federal government to expand their share of Medicaid costs and administration, or risk losing funding if they refuse?

A decision by the High Court is expected in June.