Outlook: The health law and its various battles

News outlets report on how timing issues could impact whether the challenges to the health law make it to the Supreme Court in the next term, how messages regarding efforts to overhaul the health care system are playing in presidential primary states and how opposition to "Obamacare" is motivating one Republican to consider joining the presidential contest fray.

Politico Pro: Time Is Tight For SCOTUS To Take Reform Suit
The odds of the Supreme Court taking up one of the health reform lawsuits next term will decrease significantly if one of two courts of appeals does not issue its pending ruling by the end of the month. The odds will go down even more if one of those appeals courts doesn't strike down the law. There are many factors in the parlor game of predicting whether the Supreme Court will accept one of the cases against the health reform law and when. And there are huge consequences: There will be significant political attention on the case if it's decided before the presidential election. And few court observers are willing to put money on how the Supremes would rule (Haberkorn, 8/10).

News outlets also are reporting on how battle lines are being drawn in Iowa regarding the Democrats' health law and GOP budget plans —  

Politico (Video): Defending Health Care Reform In Iowa
The Democratic health care group Know Your Care is on the airwaves in Iowa with a commercial defending the Affordable Care Act as a boon to small business. Know Your Care, the 501(c)3 arm of the advocacy organization Protect Your Care, is running the ad in the Des Moines media market Wednesday through Sunday, to coincide with the Republican presidential debate and the Ames straw poll. It's a five-figure television buy, according to spokesman Eddie Vale, and it's accompanied by "saturation"-level online ads in Des Moines in Ames (Burns, 8/10).

CNN: Paul Ryan Wants To Fight Back
House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan is going on the offensive. He sent an e-mail to supporters Tuesday asking for donations to help him mount an ad campaign in Iowa to counter expected Democratic attacks this week on his budget plan in the state. … In the e-mail solicitation for donations to his political action committee, the Wisconsin Republican said: "We have to fight back. With your support, I'm planning on launching a counter-attack to educate Iowa voters about the Path to Prosperity and how it's the only plan currently on the table that saves Medicare" (Bohn, 8/9).

Also, former New York Govenor George Pataki points to "Obamacare" as the reason he is considering diving into the GOP presidential race —

The Fiscal Times: Pataki Closer to Declaring his Candidacy for President
[F]ormer New York Governor George Pataki said that he's "considering" getting into the race and that he would make his decision within "a very short horizon" of time. ... Pataki on the Attack: "Obamacare has been a nightmare for the economy. It has imposed enormous new costs and regulations and uncertainty on those small and large businesses, and has been so politically driven. We need to repeal it. We didn't need Obamacare" (Mackey, 8/10).