Health reform law to have its day in nation’s highest court next month

The historic 2010 health reform law designed to make health care more affordable and accessible will hang in the balance in late March, when the U.S. Supreme Court takes up questions about the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

The court has allotted five-and-a-half-hours over three days to hear arguments in the case, a clear sign that the justices are acutely aware of the implications of their decision. Generally, the court allots about an hour on one day to hear arguments from both sides of a case.

“They consider this to be a very important case,” said Tim Jost, the Robert L. Willett Family Professor of Law at Washington and Lee University. “Since the…1930s, the Supreme Court has shown great deference to Congress in regulating the economy and spending money for the general welfare. If the Supreme Court holds that (the Affordable Care Act) is unconstitutional, it will signal an intent to dramatically cut back on the power of Congress.”

Continue reading this story from the February 2012 issue of The Nation’s Health, APHA’s newspaper.