The Supreme Court will hear a challenge to President Obama’s healthcare law today, kicking off a three-day proceeding. The Affordable Care Act mandates an expansion of health insurance to 30 million more Americans within a decade, as well as for the ire it has roused in Republican lawmakers and citizens, alike. At the heart of the Court’s hearings will be the argument against the health reform law’s individual mandate — the requirement that most Americans obtain health insurance. Failure to follow the mandate, which goes into effect in 2014, could result in a fine. Also on the Court’s agenda over the coming days are oral arguments over whether a ruling on the law’s insurance requirement is premature, a consideration of what happens if the insurance requirement is ruled unconstitutional, and a discussion over the constitutionality of the law’s expansion of Medicaid.
To look ahead to next three days of health care debate and discussion, Jeffrey Rosen, professor of law at George Washington University, joins us.