Legal Challenges

The insurance industry is worried the court will strike the individual mandate and leave the rest of the law intact.

The Supreme Court on Friday appointed two veteran D.C. lawyers to argue the merits of two issues that neither the Obama administration nor the health law's opponents support.

H. Bartow Farr, a partner at Farr & Taranto, has been chosen to argue that the entire law can stand if the individual mandate is struck down - the conclusion the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta reached in April. The government argues that the law's requirements that insurers cover all sick people at no extra cost can't survive without the mandate, while opponents say none of the law can.

Also, Robert Long, a partner with Covington & Burling, was chosen to defend the position that the mandate cannot be challenged before it goes into effect in 2014 because it's a tax. Both parties disagree, but the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond - and a dissenting judge in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals - ruled that the Anti-Injunction Act bars the courts from ruling on the mandate before people start paying the penalty.

House Democrats want U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to investigate Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas for failing to report earnings.

“All Americans will have a stake in the debate; therefore, all Americans should have access to it,” Pelosi said.

Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan did not recuse herself from the court’s decision to hear a lawsuit over the new healthcare law, but her critics aren’t conceding defeat. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) pressed Attorney General Eric Holder for more information Tuesday about Kagan’s role in preparing to defend the healthcare law while she was solicitor general.

Kagan has said she was not involved in crafting the administration’s legal strategy, and most of the documents her critics have released so far show only that other people in her office discussed the issue. But Sessions said newly released emails show that she actively supported the healthcare reform effort. He asked Holder to identify any meetings Kagan attended about the healthcare law as well as instances where “information ... was relayed or provided to her” about the health law or the legal challenges to it.

Healthwatch’s Julian Pecquet has more.

Just this once: C-SPAN is asking the Supreme Court to drop its ban on cameras in the courtroom when it hears arguments over President Obama’s healthcare law. Healthwatch's Sam Baker has more on the request.

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Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) on Tuesday pressed Attorney General Eric Holder for more information about Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan's involvement with the healthcare reform law after new emails emerged showing her rooting for the law when she was solicitor general.

Administration emails recently obtained by the conservative CNSNews.com through a Freedom of Information Act request show Kagan telling a former colleague "I hear they have the votes, Larry!! Simply amazing," regarding the reform bill. The emails have rekindled calls for Kagan to recuse herself from ruling on the healthcare reform law next year because of a provision of the U.S. code that calls on justices to disqualify themselves when they have "expressed an opinion concerning the merits of the particular case in controversy" while in government service.

Sessions, a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, ripped into Holder over his past statements that Kagan was barely involved. He said Holder and his staff failed in their duty to provide emails and other documents to the committee.

The court has scheduled five and a half hours of oral arguments in the case, the longest hearing in decades.

The healthcare reform law — and economic pressures — are already changing the healthcare system in irreversible ways regardless of how the Supreme Court rules, The New York Times reports.

The Supreme Court's review of the health law all but guarantees a legacy-shaping ruling for both President Obama and Chief Justice John Roberts, Bloomberg reports.

The reform law retains unflagging support among healthcare providers, Modern Healthcare reports. A new Commonwealth Fund/Modern Healthcare survey found 89 percent of respondents supported moving forward with the measure's implementation.

Kaiser Health News lays out healthcare interests' recommendations to the supercommittee.

An American Heart Association science advisory recommends that the healthcare law cover cardiac rehabilitation to help eliminate barriers for women, minorities and low-income Americans.

While not second-guessing the administration’s legal strategy, some Democratic lawmakers are clearly bracing for defeat.

The Supreme Court confirmed on Monday that the lawsuits over healthcare reform are about as important as lawsuits get.