Interests and advocates wait anxiously for Supreme Court's health law decision -- for very different reasons

Apr 27 2012

The Associated Press reports that people with HIV/AIDS have a lot at stake regarding the health law's future -- specifically, its Medicaid expansion and ban on pre-existing condition exclusions. In a second story, though, AP reports on why the small business group, the NFIB, hopes to see the law overturned. Meanwhile, MarketWatch reports that some wealthy Americans would save big money if the high court rejects the overhaul.   

The Associated Press: Health Care Debate: High Stakes For Those With HIV
For many HIV-positive Americans, and those who advocate on their behalf, these are days of anxious waiting as the Supreme Court ponders President Barack Obama's health care overhaul... Among its many provisions, the health care law has two major benefits for HIV-positive people: It expands Medicaid so that those with low incomes can get earlier access to treatment, and it eliminates limits on pre-existing conditions that have prevented many people with HIV from obtaining private insurance (Crary, 4/25).

The Associated Press/Washington Post: Health Insurance Costs And Taxes Top Small Business Advocate NFIB's Agenda
Dan Danner never expected to end up in the middle of the health care debate. Or, for that matter, in politics. As president of the National Federation of Independent Business, the biggest advocacy group representing small business owners in the U.S., Danner helped oversee the organization's attempt to overturn the health care overhaul. Last month, the NFIB's lawyers were among those arguing against the law before the Supreme Court (4/25).

Market Watch: Health Law's Demise Would Save Big Bucks, For Some
Whatever their opinion of the health-care reform law, wealthy Americans have a lot of money at risk in the Supreme Court's coming decision on the law's constitutionality. If the court decides the law is unconstitutional, high-income taxpayers would avoid a 3.8% tax hike on investment earnings, plus a 0.9% increase in their payroll taxes, come 2013. For people in the top 1% of income earners, avoiding those two tax provisions would translate into savings of, on average, about $21,000 per year, according to the Tax Policy Center, a joint venture of the Brookings Institution and Urban Institute (Coombes, 4/26).