Lawyers representing the Obama administration this week told the Supreme Court that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) could be salvaged, even if the law’s mandate requiring every American to carry health insurance was struck down by the court. Attorneys argued, in a written brief to the Court, that Congress would not want to overturn the entire law, even if the mandate was found unconstitutional.
Solicitor General Donald Verrilli wrote in the brief, “Many provisions of the act, focused on controlling costs, improving public health and other objectives, have no connection to insurance coverage at all.” He continued, “And Congress directed that much of the act take effect several years before the minimum coverage provision’s effective date, further demonstrating that Congress intended those provisions to operate independently.”
(originally posted 12/31/2011)
Supreme Court Timeline Set for Health Reform
The U.S. Supreme Court has issued a timeline for oral arguments to be heard on challenges to health reform law. The Court will consider four specific legal questions to be argued over three days within distinct time limits:
March 26: Whether the Anti-Injunction Act bars the lawsuit that challenges the insurance coverage mandate before it goes into effect (1 hour).
March 27: Whether Congress has the power under Article 1 of the Constitution, or the commerce clause, to regulate economic inactivity in order to mandate minimum coverage (2 hours).
March 28: Whether Congress exceeded its powers in mandating minimum coverage, and if so, is the law in its entirety invalidated or to what extent can the individual mandate be separated from the remainder of the law (1.5 hours).
March 28: Whether Congress exceeded its powers by forcing states to accept an expansion of Medicaid costs and administration under pain of losing Medicaid funding (1 hour).
The Supreme Court justices are expected to hand down their decision sometime in mid-2012, ensuring health reform to be a focus of the November presidential race.
