Stakeholders anxiously await high court health law review

Insurers are on the lookout for what they view as the worse-case scenario. Meanwhile, some state attorneys general are watching developments surrounding this case to see if it might fuel other such state challenges to federal laws.

Bloomberg: Insurers Seek To Avoid 'Worst Of All Worlds' In Health Care Case
For insurance companies nervously watching the legal fight over the constitutionality of the president's health care law, it would be the unthinkable: The U.S. Supreme Court strikes down the law's so-called individual mandate, which requires millions of young, healthy people to buy coverage -; but leaves intact rules compelling insurers to cover sick people, who are likely to cost far more in benefits than they pay in premiums. Congress is then left to fix the problem (Stohr, 11/3).

CQ HealthBeat: Health Care Lawsuit May Spawn Other Challenges To Federal Laws
One of the lawsuits pending before the U.S. Supreme Court against the health care law is fueling interest among state attorneys general about challenging other federal laws, said attorneys for the overhaul's opponents on Thursday. David Rivkin, one of the lawyers for 26 states challenging the law, said at a Heritage Foundation event that the attorneys general involved are "really fired up" about the suit. During a Nov. 10 closed-door conference, the justices will decide whether and how to take up that case and two others that have been appealed to the high court (Norman, 11/3).