US Supreme Court poised to rule on ‘Obamacare’

US: The imminent US Supreme Court decision on Barack Obama’s signature health care reforms has major implications for November’s presidential election and for the future of the United States.

A ruling is expected today -- two years to the day after Obama signed into law an act to insure an extra 32 million Americans and prevent coverage from being refused on the basis of patients’ medical histories.

At the heart of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, dubbed “Obamacare” by its critics, lies the individual mandate that requires every US citizen from 2014 to take out health insurance or be subject to a fine. Opponents argue that Congress overstepped its constitutional prerogatives in requiring individuals to buy insurance, while the Obama administration contends that the move is vital and in line with existing trade and tax law.

Underlining the size and scope of the decision, the nine Supreme Court justices held six hours of oral arguments over three days in late March, the longest time allotted to debating a single issue in more than 45 years.There are several possible outcomes: the highest court in the land could overturn Obamacare in its entirety, throw out just the individual mandate, endorse the whole law, or reach some other kind of mixed ruling.

It must first decide if the fine for not paying the individual mandate constitutes a tax.

If so, it may argue that preemptive challenges are forbidden and decline to rule at all until the “tax” comes into force in 2014.

There is also the question of the law’s expansion of the health program for low-income families, Medicaid, which is being portrayed by Republicans as an unconstitutional grab of state funds by the federal government.

While Supreme Court justices are meant to base their decisions on the framework provided by the centuries-old US constitution, many liberals fear the conservative-leaning bench could be swayed by political bias.

“What they’re afraid of is that the subjective impulse of the judge, rather than something more objective, will control the decision,” Justice Stephen Breyer, viewed as one of the more liberal members of the bench, told AFP.

“If they can force you to buy health insurance, they can force you to buy a car, asparagus, a gym membership,” Ken Cuccinelli, Republican attorney general for Virginia, told AFP.

AFP