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    U.S. Supreme Court to Hear Health Care Law Case

    December 15, 2011, 01:46 PM

    The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear five and a half hours of oral arguments in the Florida v. Department of Health and Human Services case challenging the constitutionality of the controversial Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). The case arises out of an appeal by 26 states of a decision by The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. The scope of what the Court has agreed to consider is limited to the issues of whether (1) it is within Congress power to require states to choose between complying with the provision of the PPACA or losing federal Medicaid funding, and (2) whether the individual mandate provision of the PPACA is constitutional and, if not, the extent to which it may be severed from the remainder of the Act. Arguments will be heard in March of 2012 and a decision is expected before the Court recesses in late June. A copy of the petition for certiorari submitted by Florida et al. is available here. –Meagan J. Thomasson