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Oh, if it were only that easy.. If anyone thinks that this Supreme Court will follow Pat Riley’s advice (“Look for your choices, pick the best one, then go for it”), then they haven’t been paying attention!
We’ll find out at the start of the show what the court decides.. Here are the four issues they’ll decide:
PART I: The Anti-Injunction Act
There is a U.S. law, dating from 1867 that says that the government can’t be dragged into court over a tax until someone is actually forced to pay the tax. If the penaties for those who choose not to purchase insurance are not considered a tax, the Anti-Injunction law may not apply to the ACA. However, if SCOTUS decides the penalties are a tax, since the penalties in the ACA don’t start until 2015, there may be no one legally allowed to sue over this issue until 2015 – after the ACA has been implemented.
PART II: The Individual Mandate
You’ve probably heard the most about this part of the ACA. This is part of the law that says that – in order to promote the general welfare of Americans, by helping to provide a health care system that all Americans can afford – all Americans must have health care insurance, or otherwise pay a penalty. This is also the part of the ACA that forces insurers to cover ALL Americans, regardless of pre-existing conditions.
PART III: Severability
This third argument is trying to answer this question: Can The Court say that the individual mandate is unconstitutional, even if the rest of the ACA remains constitutional and legal? According to an earlier ruling by the Eleventh Circuit Court, the Court could do just that. If SCOTUS did that, however, they could plunge the entire health insurance industry into ruin – because insurance carriers would still be forced to cover everyone, while healthy people would no longer be forced to join the insurance pool.
PART IV: Medicaid Expansion
This is the part of the law that expands Medicaid to cover significantly more poor Americans, while increasing the amount that states have to pay. Since Medicaid is a federal and state partnership program, this part of the law also forces states to carry more of the burden, instead of dumping most of the cost on the federal government.
We’ll be live as the decisions are handed down, following along at the SCOTUSblog’s live blog – reacting as each part is read.
Then, I’ll discuss it with Donna Smith, community organizer and legislative advocate for National Nurses United – a woman who most of us got to know when she was featured in Michael Moore’s Sicko.
And in the second hour, we’ll keep the discussion going with John Fugelsang (who’s been doing an amazing job filling in for Eliot Spitzer on Current TV this week!)
This afternoon, I’ll once again guest host the Randi Rhodes Show (3-6pm ET at randirhodes.com, any of her affiliate stations or XM 168). Donna Smith will join me there, as will Forbes’ Rick Ungar. And we’ll leave lots of time to get your thoughts on the decision – just call in at 866-87-RANDI (866-877-2634)
