Obama expresses confidence that SCOTUS will uphold health law

Days after a federal appeals court overturned the measure's individual mandate, President Barack Obama said the Supreme Court will uphold the law if it follows legal precedents when considering it.

The Associated Press: Obama Says Supreme Court Will Uphold Health Care Law
President Barack Obama says he is confident the Supreme Court would uphold the central provision of his health care overhaul as long as the justices follow existing laws and precedent. The president's comments came just days after a federal appeals panel in Atlanta struck down the provision that requires Americans to carry health insurance. The federal appeals court in Cincinnati, however, upheld the so-called individual mandate in June (Kuhnhenn, 8/15).

The Wall Street Journal Law Blog: Obama Confident Supreme Court Will Defend Health Care Law
Days after a federal appeals panel deemed the individual insurance mandate in Obama's health care law unconstitutional, President Obama pushed back today and declared his confidence that the Supreme Court would uphold it, so long as they adhere to existing precedents and laws (Lee, 8/15).

CQ HealthBeat: Supreme Court Will Uphold Health Care Law "Without a Problem," Obama Says
In his first public comments on the health care law since a federal appeals court declared its centerpiece unconstitutional, President Obama predicted Monday that the law "should be upheld without a problem" if the Supreme Court follows precedents when considering it. "If the Supreme Court does not follow existing law and precedent, then, you know, we'll have to manage that when it — when it happens," Obama added in response to a question at an event in Cannon Falls, Minn. (Norman, 8/15).

Atlanta Journal Constitution: Health Reform — What's Next?
Last week's ruling by a three judge panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals almost [e]nsures that the Obama health reform law will reach the U.S. Supreme Court, but the timing of that remains unclear at best. The Obama Administration can choose to appeal last Friday's decision to the full 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, or go straight to the Supreme Court. As of Monday, it still wasn't clear what the Justice Department decision would be; the feds have 90 days to decide. Meanwhile, all sides are still waiting for a ruling by the 4th Circuit on a case brought by the Commonwealth of Virginia, which also challenges the individual mandate provision that was struck down last Friday. That case was argued in early June (Dupree, 8/16).

Even so, Politico Pro reports on what might happen if the court ultimately does strike down the mandate - 

Politico Pro: What If The Mandate Goes?
If the Supreme Court strikes down the individual mandate at the heart of President Barack Obama's health care law, Congress may have to "fix" the rest of the law to prevent a disaster. But what if Congress isn't in the mood to "fix" anything? With all the bickering over whether the law should even exist, why wouldn't lawmakers just keep fighting as many of them try to undo the whole thing? That's a real scenario that the Obama administration could face, after a divided 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last week that the federal government could not require Americans to buy health insurance (Dobias, 8/16).