Recent Publications
Update on the Constitutionality of the Health Care Reform Law
The Health Care Reform Act was signed into law by President Obama on March 23, 2010. As of today five federal judges have ruled on challenges to the law. Two Republican judges, in Florida and Virginia, have declared it unconstitutional in whole or in part. Three Democratic judges, in Michigan, Virginia and Washington, D.C., have upheld it as constitutional.
Recently the Virginia Attorney General filed a request with the U.S. Supreme Court to hear a challenge to the law before it had been decided by the federal courts. The Supreme Court denied the request so the review of the Law will continue in federal court. It may reach the U. S. Supreme Court in 2012 or 2013.
In the meantime, the federal and state governments have begun to put in place other parts of the law, including changes in payment rates under the Medicare system and a provision allowing children up to age 26 to remain on the parents' health insurance policies. Other provisions of the law are scheduled to take place later this year and in future years.
This Alert is a publication of the Health Care Practice Group of Fraser Trebilcock. Copyright© 2011 by Fraser Trebilcock. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
