Last week, the US Supreme Court granted a writ of certiorari and will be hearing the challenges to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). Oral arguments have been scheduled for March 2012 and an expected decision is slated for June 2012, making the results paramount to the 2012 Presidential election.
The high court has agreed to hear arguments on the charge brought by 26 states and the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) that PPACA is unconstitutional. Specifically, the individual mandate of PPACA is in question, as it would force individuals to buy health insurance or pay penalties to the IRS. This individual mandate marks the first time that Congress will potentially be forcing individuals to engage in commerce rather than simply regulating existing commerce. Many Americans and legal minds agree that this is unlawful.
Based on reports from the last week, it seems that all nine Supreme Court justices will be involved in deciding the case. To this point, it has been suggested that both Elena Kagan and Clarence Thomas should recuse themselves (withdraw from the case) due to previous involvement with the bill in question. Kagan not only served as President Obama’s Solicitor General, but has also been tied to key individuals responsible for creating the bill and publicly cheered its passage in 2010. Thomas, on the other hand, was not directly involved with PPACA, but his wife has previously lobbied for organizations against the law.
Beginning in March, the high court will hear an unprecedented 5.5 hours of arguments. This has been broken down into two hours of argument on the individual mandate, one hour on Medicaid expansion, one hour on Anti-Injunction Act issues, and 90 minutes on the severability of the individual mandate from the rest of the health reform law.
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Read More:
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Little Known IRS Glitch Could Be Downfall of PPACA
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