Employers given more time to provide workers with health insurance
individual mandate
The ‘Heart’ of Health Care Reform: Can the Law Stand Without a Mandate?
During the summer of 2009, when the health care reform debate was dividing the country and the “public option” seemed like the most important policy issue in a generation, the proposal to require all Americans to have health …
The Mystery of Donald Verrilli’s Supreme Court Choke
After Donald Verrilli’s halting performance defending a national health-insurance mandate before the Roberts court on Tuesday, the White House Wednesday morning issued a statement of support for their beleaguered solicitor …
SCOTUS To Hear Obamacare Before Election
The U.S. Supreme Court granted cert (PDF) this morning in three cases challenging several key elements of President Barack Obama’s health-care reform law: whether Congress can force Americans to purchase health care; whether all or part of the rest of the law is constitutional if that one provision is not; whether the penalty for not …
A Closer Look at Obama’s Big Legal Win on Health Reform
The majority opinion by a 6th circuit panel Wednesday upholding Obama’s health care reform law is a victory for the administration on its face. But to understand just how big a victory it is, you have to read the concurring opinion by Circuit Judge Jeffrey Sutton. Sutton, a former clerk to Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and a …
What the Sixth Circuit Ruling Means for the Future of Health Reform
Wednesday’s appeals court ruling on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act was undoubtedly a win for the Obama Administration. The Sixth Circuit, based in Cincinnati, agreed with a previous district court ruling that the law’s individual mandate does not violate the Constitution. Challengers argued in this case, as they have in …
Health Care Lawsuits: Why the 11th Circuit Might Matter More
Updated at 3:20 p.m.
The Affordable Care Act was back in court on Wednesday, with the government and a coalition of 26 states presenting arguments in an Atlanta courtroom for and against the constitutionality of the law. Oral …
Huntsman, Pawlenty Mulled Health Care Mandates
The conventional wisdom among the political punditry is that 2012 Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney will be hamstrung by the health-insurance plan he helped craft as governor of Massachusetts, which included a mandate to purchase insurance. That may not be true.
In conservative circles, the health-insurance mandate has become …
Health Care Court Battles – Predictable as Ever
As I noted this morning, health care reform made another court appearance today. A three-judge panel in the Fourth Circuit heard arguments for and against the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate. The appellate court, reviewing two district court decisions, is just one more stop on the way to the Supreme …
Health Reform Implementation Continues – For At Least 7 More Days – UPDATE
Roger Vinson, the federal judge in Florida who said in January that the entire Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional, today issued a “clarification” of his earlier ruling. (The Obama Administration had asked the judge to specify what he meant in his original decision – that the law could continue while the issue makes its way through …
Obama to States: If You Can Do Health Reform Better, Go For It
In a speech to governors, President Obama just endorsed a plan to allow states to opt out of major provisions of the Affordable Care Act just as it’s set to kick in. Saying he recognizes that not everyone is a member of the “Affordable Care Act fan club,” Obama said, “I agree with Mitt Romney that…states should have the power to …
Obama Administration Scores a Legal Win on Individual Mandate
As Adam already noted, a third Clinton-appointed federal judge ruled late yesterday that the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate passes constitutional muster. Two federal judges appointed by Republican presidents have said the opposite.
Adopting many of the well-worn arguments offered by the Obama Department of Justice, …
Why Congress (Probably) Won’t Scrap the Individual Mandate
Ezra Klein of the Washington Post has said a version of this already today, but it’s worth repeating. There is only a very, very slim chance that the individual mandate will be repealed by Congress, despite Politico’s contention that the policy might be on the ropes thanks to four Democratic senators.
As Ezra points out – and …