Supreme Court to Hear Health Law Debate in March

The Supreme Court said Monday it would hear three days of testimony in late March in a case that challenges fundamental provisions of the federal health reform law passed nearly two years ago. The Court announced that it would hear a total of 5½ hours of arguments March 26, 27 and 28. Justices will first debate whether the Anti-Injunction Act prevents the court from ruling on the constitutionality of the law. It will then consider whether the individual mandate is constitutional followed by debate over which pieces of the law should be redacted if it's found not to be. Finally, the court will look at the Medicaid expansion provision. The court is expected to issue a decision in the case in June during the height of the president election. The Patient Care and Affordable Care Act was passed in 2010 with a Democratic-controlled Congress. The case being heard by the Supreme Court comes from a suit by 26 states including Florida. For more on the Supreme Court’s arguments see these related stories in Politico and CNN.