Court Ruling on Health Reform Law Expected Tomorrow

Anticipation is building for a Supreme Court decision on the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The Court is expected to issue a ruling tomorrow on whether the individual mandate to buy health insurance, contained in the health reform law, is constitutional. If the mandate is struck down, the Court will also issue a ruling on whether the provision is “severable” from the rest of the law—that is, whether the entire reform law is unconstitutional or other provisions of the law can stand though the mandate is struck down.

The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday on a poll in which nearly 4 in 10 Americans say that they would have "mixed feelings" if the justices struck down the whole law. Just over 25% said they would be very pleased, while 17% said they would be very disappointed by that outcome. Meanwhile the White House said it remained convinced the legislation would be upheld. "We are, as I have said in the past, confident that the Affordable Care Act is constitutional, in keeping with decades of precedent under the commerce clause," White House spokesman Jay Carney told Reuters yesterday.

Look to Psychiatric News for coverage of the decision. For more information see Psychiatric News here.

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High Court to Vote on Constitutionality of Individual Insurance Mandate

The U.S. Supreme Court will vote today on the constitutionality of the individual insurance mandate in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA)—but the outcome will not likely be made public until later this year. The Court wrapped up a week of hearings on the mandate, which requires individuals to buy health insurance or pay a penalty, and on other aspects of the PPACA that have been challenged on constitutional grounds.

The hearings, which received around-the-clock coverage in the media, seemed to indicate that the nine justices—five conservatives and four liberals—would split along ideological lines. But as the Washington Post reports today, sometimes the tone of hearings can be misleading in terms of predicting the ultimate decision. The Post reports that the Court's decision will likely be made public in June. 

For information about legal challenges to the PPACA see Psychiatric News here. Also, American Psychiatric Publishing has published “Health Care Reform: A Primer for Psychiatrists,” see information about it here.

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