Obama Health Care Reform: How Will The Supreme Court Rule? What Implications?

Later this month, the US Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in U.S. Department of Health and Human Services v. Florida, the lawsuit chosen to give the Court an opportunity to rule on the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Here are three interesting perspectives on the suit:

Bloomberg Law’s Betsy Goldman analyzes Justice Antonin Scalia’s Commerce Clause decisions to explain why she thinks the most conservative Justice on the Court will rule in favor of the PPACA:

(Is Scalia a Potential Health Care Swing Vote? by Bloomberg Law) 

Law firm K&L Gates sets forth possible scenarios that the Supreme Court ruling could produce:

“[If] the Supreme Court strikes down the individual mandate [and] rules that [it] is severable from the rest of the law, the individual mandate is removed, but the rest of the law stands. Employers will have to comply with the rest of the requirements under PPACA, including the employer mandate. Insurers would have to comply with all the requirements of PPACA, including offering dependent coverage for adult children up to 26, prohibiting rescissions of coverage, prohibiting annual and lifetime limits, and providing preventive services without cost-sharing.” (Several Scenarios: The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the Supreme Court, and the 2012 Elections - What Does This Mean For Employers? by K&L Gates LLP) 

Law firm Dinsmore & Shohl takes an in-depth look at how the reforms will change the way employers and employees will secure – and pay for – health care coverage: 

“To keep premiums affordable, employers need their younger workers to enroll. That means, (1) review premium pricing and co-insurance to see what affordable inducements might attract and retain younger workers (for example, employers might consider a small — $500 — contribution to a health savings account of workers who elect coverage under a (or the) high deductible plan; and (2) review plan communications to make sure that workers understand just how much even fairly routine procedures can cost (making insurance protection a more attractive option).” (Health Care “Reform” in an Uncertain Judicial and Political Landscape by Dinsmore & Shohl LLP) 

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See also: US Supreme Court to Rule on Health Care Reform Law 

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