JURIST Supported by the University of Pittsburgh

 Health Care Reform

Comprehensive health care reform was passed by Congress in March 2010 after over a year of congressional debate. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) was aimed at both reforming the private health insurance market and ensuring greater access to health insurance coverage. However, since the bill was signed into law it has been the subject of numerous federal lawsuits challenging its constitutionality. Most of these lawsuits have revolved around the law's individual mandate provisions—which requires that all non-exempt US citizens obtain minimum health insurance coverage. The bill has also been challenged by the actions of many state legislatures, which have sought to block the law from being implemented in their states. The litigation, taking place in numerous lawsuits in federal courts nationwide, have resulted in contradictory rulings from district and appellate courts, and will likely be addressed by the US Supreme Court in the future.... [more]

  TIMELINE

3/29/12: Supreme Court heard final day of health care arguments

3/28/12: Supreme Court heard arguments on health care individual mandate

3/27/12: Supreme Court heard first day of arguments on health care act challenge

2/3/12: Federal government requested additional time for oral argument in health care reform case

1/10/12: 26 states claimed medicaid expansion in health care law is unconstitutional

1/6/12: US government defended health care minimum coverage requirement

11/14/11: Supreme Court agreed to rule on health care reform law challenge from Eleventh Circuit

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  ACADEMIC COMMENTARY
Forum: Medicaid in the Supreme Court: Small Errors, Big Problems
Forum: Judicial Restraint and the Health Care Litigation
Forum: The Role of Lochner in the Health Care Litigation
  LEGAL PROFESSIONAL COMMENTARY
Hotline: Values of Federalism at Stake in Health Care Litigation
Hotline: The Role of Partisanship in the Health Care Reform Challenge
Hotline: Financial Reporting Renders Health Care Reform Unconstitutional
  STUDENT COMMENTARY
Dateline: The CLASS Act: A Missed Opportunity in Health Care Reform
Dateline: Necessary and Proper: Health Care Costs and the Individual Mandate
Dateline: Commerce Clause Jurisprudence and Original Intent in Health Care