The world of healthcare is exploding in the U.S. Just in time for the 2012 Presidential election, the Supreme Court will decide whether the new health reform law is constitutional, according to a story yesterday in The New York Times by Adam Liptak, setting the stage for a boon for the candidate on the winning side of the decision, and a possible sound beating for the other.
The court agreed to take up the challenge from 26 states yesterday, according to the story, after lower courts reached different verdicts on the legality of the Affordable Care Act. According to Dominic Basulto at The Washington Post, the challenge by the 26 states was “largely sustained in the U.S. appeals court in Atlanta, the only U.S. appeals court to do so.”
But that’s not the only battle the administration must fight to keep its landmark legislation alive. Venture capitalists are reconsidering their investments in healthcare, experts are saying. And Congress is decidedly ambivalent, too.
Fighting back, the Obama administration yesterday announced the latest in a series of steps to get around a divided U.S. Congress – up to $1 billion for “a program to support healthcare innovation to cut costs and improve care, according to a story by Reuters Health.”
Reuters Health reports that the money will come from President Obama's signature healthcare reform, and it will be awarded in March to people who come up with the best ideas to improve care and save money for people enrolled in federal healthcare programs, such as Medicare, Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program.
"Both public and private community organizations around the country are finding innovative solutions to improve our health care system and the Health Care Innovation Challenge will help jump start these efforts," Health and Human Service Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a statement, Reuter Health said.
The controversy mainly revolves around the mandate that all Americans must purchase health insurance, and whether the government has the right to make people do that, according to a story at healthtechzone.com.
Basulto at The Washington Post writes that the requirement that most individuals get health insurance -- those who could afford it -- "is a valid exercise of Congress' commerce power," the government petition said.
And the White House predicts victory, Basulto writes. But others are not so sure it should be.
One of the Affordable Care Act cases accepted by the high court, along with the state challenges, came from the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), according to Basulto.
He reports in his story that NFIB President and CEO Dan Danner said in a statement: "Only 18 months after its passage, the new healthcare law has been brought to the steps of the Supreme Court by America's small-business owners. For the small-business community, this comes not a day too soon. The healthcare law has not lived up to its promises of reducing costs, allowing citizens to keep their coverage or improving a cumbersome system that has long been a burden to small-business owners and employees, alike. The small-business community can now have hope; their voices are going to be heard in the nation's highest court."
Deborah DiSesa Hirsch is an award-winning health and technology writer who has worked for newspapers, magazines and IBM in her 20-year career. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.Edited by
Rich Steeves
