Will Obama’s healthcare reforms survive?
In Britain, Parliament passes a Bill, and that’s it. However controversial, once the Bill becomes an Act, the debate is over. Nobody argues that the measure is unconstitutional, not least because the UK does not have a constitution as generally understood. Of course, an Act can be subject to judicial review – as was the case with parts of the Digital Economy Act- but the grounds for JR are narrow and success is rare.
Now, over in the USA, it’s all very different. It may be two years since the Obama administration managed to get through Congress a major piece of reform legislation on healthcare officially called the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, but the debate is far from over. Today the US Supreme Court starts its deliberations in a hugely important case brought by no less than 26 states arguing that a key provision of the legislation is unconstitutional.
As a primer to the main arguments, see here. But this is going to be a long case.