U.S. Supreme Court Accepts Three Appeals of Health Care Reform Law
Lyle Denniston wrote on the SCOTUSblog that the court's allowing 5.5 hours for oral argument "appeared to be a modern record."
As expected, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed Nov. 14 to hear arguments on the constitutionality of the health care reform law signed by President Obama that will require most Americans to have health insurance as of 2014. The court accepted three appealed cases, although it elected to review only some claims from two of them, and scheduled 5.5 hours of oral argument that probably will take place in March 2012, Lyle Denniston predicted in a post on the SCOTUSblog.
Arguments in all three cases could be heard the same day. Two hours of oral argument will be devoted to the core question of whether the universal health insurance requirement is constitutional; other issues to be heard by the court include whether the entire law must be overturned if the court strikes down that requirement.
Denniston wrote that allowing 5.5 hours for oral argument "appeared to be a modern record." When the decisions are announced, in all likelihood next June, the law is likely to be a hot political issue in both the 2012 presidential contest and in congressional races across the country.