As nation awaits the High Court's decision, health issues grab some voters' attention

The National Journal reports that health policies have become voters' number 2 concern -- edged out only by the economy. On the ground in Tennessee, though, many people who don't have insurance and were seeking care at a free clinic were not aware of of how what they had at stake in the law's future.    

National Journal: Voters Care More About Health Care In This Election-;Sort Of
For the first time in a long time, health care has rocketed to the top of voters' big issues in the presidential election. With the future of health care reform in the balance, several recent surveys have put health care as the No. 2 concern after the economy, a position it has rarely enjoyed in recent elections. ...  In this election, health has become something of a proxy issue for voters' larger views about the appropriate role of the federal government. For opponents, it's a symbol of government overreach; for supporters, it's a sign of how government can help solve people's problems. Those preferences better reflect voters' partisan preferences than they do their actual experiences with the health care system (Sanger-Katz, 6/16).

Kaiser Health News: Uninsured And Unaware Of Supreme Court Case Against Health Law
As Robin Layman, a mother of two who has major health troubles but no insurance, arrived at a free clinic here, she had a big personal stake in the Supreme Court's imminent decision on the new national health care law. Not that she realized that. "What new law?" she said. "I've not heard anything about that" (MacGillis, 6/17). 

Meanwhile, the media is watching, waiting and preparing for the decision. 

Politico: Media Preps For Health Care Ruling
If you thought the Supreme Court's recent hearings on President Barack Obama's health care plan drew a lot of media coverage, just wait for the ruling. With the high court set to hand down its opinion on the Affordable Care Act some time before the end of the month, the major television networks and news outlets are standing by on call, ready to dispatch teams of reporters, analysts, and cameras to the courthouse to air special reports on what could be a landmark decision with major implications for the presidential contest (Byers, 6/18).

Politico: Bloggers Fret Over SCOTUS, Kennedy
Many anxious conservative activists gathered at the annual RightOnline bloggers conference this weekend expressed fear that the Supreme Court is going to uphold President Barack Obama's health care plan -- and some worried that Justice Anthony Kennedy will provide the swing vote to do so (Mak, 6/17).