Dylan Scott is a GOVERNING staff writer.
E-mail: dscott@governing.comTwitter: @dylanlscott
Federal News
Health Care Law Coming Before The Supreme Court
Both sides in the debate over the Affordable Care Act's constitutionality seem to agree that the U.S. Supreme Court should rule on the matter before the 2012 presidential election. Fox News reports 26 states and a national business group have asked the court to strike down the health care law, while the National Journal reports the Justice Department has also request the nation's highest court makes a ruling on the law's legality.
Much of the disagreement centers on the individual mandate, which requires that those who don't receive insurance from an employer or a government program must purchase a policy themselves. However, according to Fox, 26 states and the National Federation of Independent Business urged to Supreme Court to declare the entire law unconstitutional. At the same time, according to the National Journal, the Justice Department is arguing the individual mandate is crucial to the law's effectiveness.
A retired Supreme Court justice, John Paul Stevens, recently told the Associated Press that the court should take action before next year's election. "It would be better to have that known about than be speculated as a part of the political argument," Stevens told the AP.
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Atlanta, ruled in August that the individual mandate is unconstitutional, spurring this recent push to bring the case before the Supreme Court, the National Journal reports. Two other federal appeals courts have upheld the law's legality.
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