Health law challenge inches toward Supreme Court

The Thomas More Law Center formally petitioned the high court to reverse a lower court's decision upholding the health law.

The New York Times: Justices Are Asked To Hear Challenge To Health Care Law
The Supreme Court was asked on Wednesday to hear a challenge to the health care overhaul law, raising the possibility that the justices could rule on the matter by next summer, just months before the presidential election. Similar requests are likely to follow, and it is not clear which if any of them the court will agree to hear (Liptak, 7/27).

The Associated Press: Health Care Lawsuit Reaches Supreme Court
A conservative law firm asked the Supreme Court Wednesday to strike down the health care overhaul, challenging the first federal appeals court ruling that upheld President Barack Obama's signature domestic initiative. The appeal filed by the Thomas More Law Center of Ann Arbor, Mich., said Congress overstepped its authority in requiring Americans to purchase health insurance or pay financial penalties (7/27).

PBS Newshour: Health Care Reform Inches Closer To Supreme Court
The Thomas More Law Center formally asked the Supreme Court Tuesday to reverse an appeals court decision upholding the health care reform law. Marking the first appeal of its kind to reach the nation's highest court, the conservative legal group continues to insist the mandate requiring all Americans to purchase health insurance is unconstitutional. Chiefly, its lawyers say the Affordable Care Act violates the Constitution's Commerce Clause, which allows Congress to regulate economic activity between states. The decision not to purchase health insurance is not an economic activity and is therefore not subject to regulation, the group contends (Kane, 7/27).

KHN's Capsules: Thomas More Appeals Health Suit To Supreme Court
The first health care lawsuit that was decided by an appeals court is now at the doorstep of the Supreme Court (Vaida, 7/27). This story also links to KHN's chart which tracks the pending legal action surrounding legal challenges to the health law.

Modern Healthcare: Law Center Asks High Court To Hear Reform Case
Seeking to curtail what it sees as an unbridled expansion of congressional power, the Thomas More Law Center in Ann Arbor, Mich., has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. More than two dozen such lawsuits are pending in federal courts across the U.S., but the conservative law center's challenge of the law on Wednesday became the first to reach filing clerks with the high court. The Supreme Court accepts only a small fraction of petitions each year for oral arguments, but observers on all sides of the controversy say they expect the nine justices will stand in ultimate judgment of the reform law (Carlson, 7/27).