Mere days after a federal appeals court in Washington declared that the individual insurance mandate posed by the Affordable Care Act was unconstitutional; President Obama has proclaimed his confidence that the Supreme Court would uphold the measure. Several states have questioned the constitutional legality of the Affordable Care Act, but only a handful have sought to fight the federal law in court. The matter will, indeed, be heading for the Supreme Court, but it may be several years before it can be resolved, especially with an election year rapidly approaching.
President Obama has embarked on a three-day bus tour of the Midwest, in which he will seek to spread interest in the coming health care changes, among other issues. While the President’s tour is one of peace, the coming legal battles regarding the insurance mandate will be nothing less than volatile. Several states, including Washington and Florida, have expressed their displeasure over the overarching measures of the Affordable Care Act. Washington’s fervor in pursuing the federal law to be declared unconstitutional may serve as inspiration for other states to do the same.
President Obama may be confident in the Supreme Court’s judgment of the insurance mandate, but he may face down the litigation far sooner than he may expect. According to Bradley Joondeph, a professor of law at the Santa Clara University, the Supreme Court could hear the case as soon as April of next year.
