The battle about health care reforms is still going on. There are several different court cases that have been filed since the Affordable Care Act, or “Obamacare” has begun. Clearly, there are some good things that have come from the recent changes in health care reform. It can also be argued that there are some parts of the reform that are not making insurance companies, and some consumers, very happy. Today, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a request to review a particular court case regarding the health care overhaul.
I believe we are going to see a lot news about lawsuits that have something to do with health care reform in the near future. The case filed by twenty states is still in process, and there are a few more that have been filed outside of that one. Today, the news is about a court case that was filed by a conservative legal group in California.
The U.S. Supreme Court was asked to review this case. This request was rejected. The reason wasn’t because the U.S. Supreme Court thought the case wasn’t a valid one, or because of the personal opinions of the judges. It was simply because this case had not been fully litigated yet. The U.S. Supreme Court is the last court that will hear a particular case. There is a process that the case must go through. First, the case must be heard by a lower court. Then, there is potential for either party in the case to appeal the result of the case. Then, it can go to a higher court. The U.S. Supreme Court is rarely the first court to hear a certain case.
This particular court case has not been heard in a lower court yet. A federal judge in San Diego ruled that this case couldn’t be brought before a court right now. Why? The plaintiffs in this case are challenging the mandate that all Americans will be required to buy health insurance. This law doesn’t go into affect until 2014. It is possible that this is why the plaintiffs have decided to “jump the line”, and attempt to get their case heard by the U.S. Supreme Court. Now, this rejection doesn’t mean that this specific court case cannot be heard ever, it just means that it cannot go directly to the U.S. Supreme Court, without going through the proper process.
Image by Chris Phan on Flickr