‘Obamacare’ faces supreme court test

Is it just an ‘ambitious’ project dragged down by political reality?:

US: History may judge Barack Obama's health care plan either as the anchor of a legacy of reform, or an emblem of a presidency born in high ambition but dragged down by political reality.

Which narrative prevails could partly be decided by a Supreme Court case on the constitutionality of the law opening next week, and by November's election, which will decide whether the president wins a second term.

The Affordable Care Act, passed after a bitter struggle against blanket Republican opposition in 2010, granted 30 million Americans health insurance for the first time, bringing universal coverage closer than ever before.

The Supreme Court case is sure to reignite a fierce political debate on the controversial reform, just as Obama cranks up the pace of his reelection bid, and as the race for a Republican nominee to battle him reaches a crucial stage.

Obama touts the health law in every meeting he holds with like-minded Democrats, styling it as a promise kept from his 2008 election win.

“Change is, yes, health care reform,” Obama said at a fundraising event in Georgia last week.

“Now we've got reforms that will ensure that in this great country of ours you won't have to mortgage your house just because you get sick,” Obama said.

The law also featured heavily in a 17-minute campaign film produced by the Obama camp designed to tout achievements of his presidency.

For Obama, who pressed on with health reform though some aides suggested it could be politically ruinous at the height of an economic crisis, sees the law in highly personal terms. He often cites the pain of his late mother who was forced to agonize about paying for her treatment as she lay dying of cancer.

But the debate is equally personal to Republicans vying to oust Obama in November as many see the law's mandate for all Americans to buy insurance as trampling individual freedom and building a dependence on government. AFP