The health law and legal challenges: What the future holds

News outlets continue their efforts to handicap the health law's chances as it progresses through the judicial system toward the Supreme Court. Meanwhile, The New York Times reports on a proposal — inspired by such repeal efforts — for a Constitutional amendment that would allow states to overturn federal laws passed by Congress.

The New York Times: The Supreme Court And Obama's Health Care Law
When it comes to the future of the Obama administration's health care plan, the judicial math can seem simple. So far in three lawsuits against the plan, two federal judges appointed by Democrats have upheld the law; one Republican-appointed judge has declared an important part of it unconstitutional. Use party as your measure, send the cases up the appeals ladder, and you quickly get to a 5-4 decision at the Supreme Court: the justices appointed by Republican presidents will vote to strike down the law (Schwartz, 12/18).

Kaiser Health News: Analysis: The Long Road To A Supreme Court Decision On Health Law's Mandate
The HCLSC - health care litigation spin cycle - is in overdrive now that a Reagan-appointed federal judge has strongly signaled in court that he is very likely to follow a George W. Bush appointee who struck down the individual mandate at the heart of the new health care law (Taylor, 12/19).

The Hill: Legal Fight Expected Over Healthcare Reform Is Only Beginning
Both sides in the legal battle over health care have found reason to claim victory recently, but neither should pop open the champagne just yet, constitutional law experts said (Millman, 12/19).

Minnesota Public Radio: Battle Over Health Care Reform Likely To Play Out In Court
But as long as President Barack Obama wields a White House veto pen, it's unlikely they'll succeed in repealing the law outright, and that means the battle is likely to play out in the courts (Stawicki, 12/20).

Fox News: Health Care Legal Challenge
Law professor Patrick Gillen talks about Obamacare and the legal challenges following Judge Henry Hudson's ruling that the individual mandate in unconstitutional (12/19).

The New York Times: Proposed Amendment Would Enable States To Repeal Federal Law
The same people driving the lawsuits that seek to dismantle the Obama administration's health care overhaul have set their sights on an even bigger target: a constitutional amendment that would allow a vote of the states to overturn any act of Congress (Zernike, 12/19).

---

This article was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.