The United States Supreme Court has indicated it will allot five-and-a-half hours for argument when reviewing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, an exceptional amount of time for a body that generally allows one hour for both sides.
Challengers of the law have argued its requirement that individuals purchase health insurance is unconstitutional, and many have taken issue with other provisions of the law as well. Secretary Kathleen Sebelius of the United States Department of Health and Human Services indicated she regards it as important that the matter be resolved.
If the law is upheld, some who have delayed implementing its provisions may find themselves scrambling to do so. Alternatively, if the law is found unconstitutional, states and officials which have already begun preparing to act on it will need to refocus their efforts for a different healthcare landscape.
The Supreme Court has stated it will hear arguments that the provision requiring individual healthcare coverage is unconstitutional, and consider the separate question of whether that invalidates the law as a whole. As a result, it is possible only that provision will be struck down while the rest of the law remains. It is also possible the Court will defer judgment, in line with one lower court's ruling that the matter cannot be settled until the penalty for failing to buy health insurance takes effect in 2015.
