Today the Supreme Court will hear arguments on whether or not Obamacare is constitutional. The issue hinges on whether or not Congress can force citizens to buy a product, as the healthcare law requires of health insurance. (George Will noted a killer argument filed by the Institute for Justice in an amicus brief: According to the whole history of contract law, no one can be coerced into signing a contract.)
Does anyone know if the individual mandate is the only aspect of the law the court will hear? Is the contraceptive and abortion pill mandate also on the table? I suspect these are separate issues.
The court might overturn the mandate requiring that everyone buy health insurance while still leaving the rest of the law intact. Which would make it worse than ever, since it would recast health care without even taking care of the uninsured. Or the court might throw out the whole law on the grounds that its key provision is unconstitutional. Or the court might uphold the whole law.
So what do you think will happen?