Supreme Court will choose among issues and lawsuits as it decides health law's fate

Oct 24 2011

The moving parts involved in the Supreme Court's determination about whether to review challenges to the health law and which issues it wants to hear are quite complicated. 

Politico: High Court Call On Health Care
If the Supreme Court decides to review President Barack Obama's health reform law, it will also have to choose which issues it wants to hear -; and that decision could have a significant impact on the law's final fate. There are four lawsuits pending before the court, and the Obama administration and five opponents of the law -; a group of 26 states, Virginia, the National Federation of Independent Business, the Thomas More Law Center and Liberty University -; have all filed competing petitions asking the court to take their cases and their issues (Haberkorn, 10/23).

Meanwhile, according to The Hill, a procedural issue could get in the way -;

The Hill: Tax Law Could Hinder Quick Supreme Court Decision On Health Care Mandate
The nuances of the Supreme Court's case on the health care reform law are beginning to come together, but a thorny procedural issue could still complicate the push for a quick and decisive ruling. By now it seems clear that the Supreme Court will probably take the case filed by 26 state attorneys general and the National Federation of Independent Business. The states, NFIB and the Justice Department have all said that's the case the court should take, and DOJ has asked the court to hold other suits until it rules in that one. For the most part, the two sides want the same thing: a quick hearing focused on the merits of whether the individual insurance mandate is constitutional (Baker, 10/23).