The U.S. Supreme Court recently heard oral arguments regarding a challenge to the massive health care reform law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), enacted in March 2010. The Court revealed how important it considers this case by hearing around six hours of oral arguments over the span of three days, when it usually schedules only an hour for oral arguments.
Three Days of Arguments
The biggest issue the Court had to tackle concerned the PPACA’s individual mandate, which beginning in 2014 will require most individuals to obtain health insurance or pay a fine. However, the justices heard oral arguments concerning three other PPACA-related issues:
The Anti-Injunction Act. The justices heard oral arguments regarding whether it’s too soon to decide the case because of the Anti-Injunction Act (AIA), a federal law that requires a tax to be collected before it can be challenged in court.
Severability. On the third day of arguments, the arguments centered on whether the individual mandate could be severed from the rest of the law if the Court found it unconstitutional.
Medicaid. Finally, the Court heard arguments regarding whether the PPACA unlawfully requires states to expand the Medicaid program.
What’s Next?
The Court is expected to issue a decision regarding the health care reform law by the end of June. Although many analysts have ventured guesses as to which way the justices are leaning by their questions and comments during the oral arguments, absent a magical crystal ball, there is no way of knowing what they are going to decide before that time. However, this doesn’t mean you should stop your implementation of various PPACA requirements. The Act is still in effect, and organizations need to make sure they’re in compliance with it.
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