Billy Hallowell
The Blaze
3/28/2012
WASHINGTON (The Blaze/AP) — Contrary to what some may believe, President Barack Obama’s health care law would not automatically collapse if the Supreme Court strikes down the unpopular requirement that most Americans carry medical insurance or face a penalty.
The overhaul could still lurch ahead without that core requirement, experts say. But it would be more like a clunky collection of parts than a coherent whole.
That would make an already complicated law a lot harder to carry out, risking repercussions for a U.S. health care system widely seen as wasteful, unaffordable and unable to deliver consistently high quality.
Premiums could jump for people buying coverage individually, and for small businesses. That’s because other provisions of the law require insurance companies to accept people with health problems, and limit the premiums that can be charged to older adults.
Sooner or later, the dilemma of the nation’s 50 million uninsured would land back on the doorstep of Congress.
During Tuesday’s oral arguments, the Supreme Court’s conservative justices fired off sharp, skeptical questions about the constitutionality of the mandate, fanning speculation that it may not withstand review.
It’s unclear what the court will do in the end, whether it will let the law stand or strike the whole thing down, or invalidate only the mandate…
The article continues at The Blaze.
Read also, Justice Roberts’ cellphone; Court arguments expose weakness of Obamacare’s foundation
Update: Justice Scalia Likens Reading Obamacare to ‘Cruel and Unusual Punishment’
Also, Justice Scalia to Obama’s Solicitor General, We’re not stupid. [“A final corrected transcript on the Supreme Court’s website, however, now indicates that he was talking about U.S. health care consumers, saying ‘These people [are] not stupid.’“]
Paul Ryan: Obama’s budget director agrees Obamacare mandate is not a tax [VIDEO]
Update 2: Andrea Mitchell Continues to Push Communist Healthcare
