Supreme Court Hearings on the Affordable Care Act

Here is this week’s agenda for the Supreme Court hearings:

Monday - 90 minutes on the Anti-Injunction Act – The Court will be reviewing whether or not courts have jurisdiction to decide the case now, or do they need to wait until a person faced with the individual mandate pays the penalty, which could be considered a tax.  If they decide they do not have jurisdiction until someone pays the penalty, the case could be delayed until April 2015.

Tuesday – 120 minutes on the individual mandate – The Court will look at whether or not it is constitutional for Congress to require people to buy health insurance.  The white house argues that it is constitutional as a form of regulating interstate commerce.  This is the main issue in the case, and one which has received different opinions in lower courts.  The mandate becomes effective in 2014.

Wednesday - 90 minutes on severability – The issue is whether or not the rest of the law stands if the individual mandate is ruled unconstitutional.  The Affordable Care Act did not include a clause stating that if any portion of the law is deemed unconstitutional, the remaining components remain intact.

Wednesday – 60 minutes on Medicaid expansion – States challenging the law have said it is coercive, conditioning future federal funding on states’ participation in the expanded Medicaid.

It is probable that the Supreme Court will provide their responses to these issues in late June of this year.