Massachusetts Law Health Insurance 2007

KCTV 5Supreme Court agrees to settle fight over Obama health-care law

The US Supreme Court on Monday agreed to examine the constitutionality of President Obama's health-care reform law, wading into a controversy that has divided political leaders, lawmakers, and much of the nation.

In an unusual move, the justices scheduled 5-1/2 hours for oral argument to cover four distinct issues, including the controversial individual mandate and whether the law is a valid tax and thus immune from challenge under the Anti-Injunction Act.

It is hard to overstate the potential significance of a high-court ruling addressing the underlying legal issues. The fate of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) -- the president's biggest legislative achievement -- hangs in the balance, and it is doing so in a presidential election year.

But the case, ultimately, is about something more fundamental. It is about congressional power and the extent to which the text of the Constitution and the Supreme Court's own precedents limit or amplify that power.

It is also about the role of the Supreme Court itself, and whether the high court under the leadership of Chief Justice John Roberts will seek to recalibrate the balance of federal and state power.

Since the New Deal, the Supreme Court has embraced an expansive view of congressional authority, with a few notable exceptions. The big question in the ACA litigation is whether the high court will focus on the few exceptions and overturn the health-care reform law, or whether the court will continue to endorse wide-ranging congressional power.

Either way, the decision will be a landmark.

At the center of the storm is a provision that requires all Americans to purchase a government-approved level of health insurance or pay a penalty.

Opponents of the law say it marks a dramatic shift in the federal government's posture toward the American people. Never before has the US government ordered citizens to purchase a private product or service under threat of government sanction.

Must everyone have a health insurance package?

I am an international student. I had health insurance while I was studying at my school because it was a requirement for the school. I graduated from college in May 2011. I am working under an OPT term this year, so I do not have to buy health insurance for school. I understand that it is better to have a health insurance package, but it is just too expensive for me right now when I do not have discount for student. My friends said that everyone needed to have a health insurance plan in the US.

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