Health reform implementation

A House leadership aide said Republicans will try to capitalize on arguments that didn’t go well for the White House.

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Conservative justices leaned toward invalidating the whole law, while liberals said the court should leave it to Congress.

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On Wednesday, it was the Supreme Court’s turn to grapple with a reality that the rest of the country has come to know all too well: the political polarization of the modern Congress. Read more...

The House on Tuesday approved a resolution that asks the Senate to return H.R. 5, the Protecting Access to Healthcare (PATH) Act, so that technical changes can be made.

The House approved a resolution asking for the bill back because of an error made while engrossing the bill. The fixes will likely be made shortly, allowing the House to pass the bill again by unanimous consent so it can be sent back to the Senate.

The resolution asking for the bill back, H.Res. 596, was approved by unanimous consent.

H.R. 5 itself would repeal the 2010 healthcare law's Independent Payment Advisory Board, and also imposes medical tort reform. But the Senate is not expected to take it up.

The Obama administration has another shot at making the case for the mandate during Wednesday's arguments.

Swing Justice Anthony Kennedy left both sides hopeful Tuesday.

Pundits lost no time jumping to conclusions after Tuesday's arguments.

Having the Supreme Court overturn the healthcare law would be "the best thing that ever happened to the Democratic Party because healthcare costs are going to escalate unbelievably," James Carville told CNN.

Some states are already developing plan B if the mandate falls.

France saw the most healthcare IPOs in 20 years this past quarter. 

Senate candidates on both sides of the aisle have avoided embracing their party’s healthcare policies.

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The mandate "changes the relationship of the federal government to the individual in a very fundamental way,” Kennedy said.

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Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R-Minn.) got one of Speaker John Boehner’s (R-Ohio) limited allotment of tickets to this week’s Supreme Court oral arguments on the federal healthcare law.

Bachmann’s ticket enables her to sit in on Wednesday’s arguments. She made repeal of President Obama’s signature law a key element of her short-lived presidential campaign.

According to spokesman Michael Steel, Boehner conferred with House committee chairmen about how to dole out the handful of seat tickets he got. Steel would not reveal how many tickets he got.

Besides Bachmann, Boehner gave a ticket to Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.) for Tuesday’s arguments.

Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) said the Speaker gave the committee, which has jurisdiction over Medicaid, one ticket for each session. Rep. Michael Burgess (R-Texas) used the seat Tuesday, while Upton intends to attend the arguments on Wednesday morning and Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.) will fill the seat Wednesday afternoon.

The Ways and Means Committee had the best representation on Tuesday. Seats went to Chairman Dave Camp and GOP Reps. Sam Johnson (Texas), Charles Boustany (La.), along with ranking member Sander Levin (D-Mich.) and Democratic Reps. Pete Stark (Calif.) and Jim McDermott (Wash.).

House Republican leaders aren’t predicting whether the Supreme Court will uphold President Obama’s healthcare overhaul, but they are using oral arguments on the landmark case to highlight the law’s unpopularity. Read more...

The court indicated Monday that it probably will not delay ruling on the administration’s healthcare reform law.

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