Yesterday, six states – Ohio, Wisconsin, Iowa, Kansas, Wyoming and Maines – joined the Florida lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act. The federal suit, in which a ruling is expected within weeks, now includes 26 states. In addition, Virginia is pursuing its own case and Oklahoma’s attorney general has indicated he intends to do the same. With 28 states lined up against the new health reform law, it might appear as though Washington Democrats are completely out of step with state-level officials across the country. But this is still a completely partisan issue; all governors and attorneys general who are suing are also Republicans.
Although the ultimate outcome is likely years away, at this point, I think the federal court challenges to health reform represent the greatest wholesale threat to the new law. For a thorough rundown on what’s at stake in these cases and how Republicans might actually prevail in their attempts to beat back the law via the Supreme Court, check out Jonathan Cohn’s deeply reported piece this week on TNR.com.