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| Supreme Court weighs all-or-nothing on Obama healthcare | Supreme Court weighs all-or-nothing on Obama healthcare |
| (40 minutes later) | |
| The US Supreme Court is pondering whether President Obama's healthcare law can stand if its core rule that everyone must have medical cover falls. | The US Supreme Court is pondering whether President Obama's healthcare law can stand if its core rule that everyone must have medical cover falls. |
| Wednesday is the last of three days of hearings on the Republican-led legal challenge by 26 states to the reform. | Wednesday is the last of three days of hearings on the Republican-led legal challenge by 26 states to the reform. |
| The court's decision could come in June, in the thick of the campaign for November's presidential election. | The court's decision could come in June, in the thick of the campaign for November's presidential election. |
| The Obama administration will argue if the insurance mandate is quashed, only two other provisions would have to go. | The Obama administration will argue if the insurance mandate is quashed, only two other provisions would have to go. |
| Those provisions bar insurers from refusing coverage because of pre-existing medical conditions and limit how much they can charge in premiums based on a person's age or health. | Those provisions bar insurers from refusing coverage because of pre-existing medical conditions and limit how much they can charge in premiums based on a person's age or health. |
| A step beyond? | |
| The law, passed in March 2010 and the most significant reform to US healthcare in almost half a century, aims to extend health insurance to 30 million Americans. | |
| But its requirement that all those eligible should have medical cover is condemned as an assault on civil liberties by conservatives. | |
| On Wednesday, opponents of the law argued that it must collapse in its entirety if the insurance mandate at its core is struck down. | |
| In August last year, a federal appeals court in Atlanta ruled that the insurance requirement was unconstitutional, but said the rest of the law could remain in place. | In August last year, a federal appeals court in Atlanta ruled that the insurance requirement was unconstitutional, but said the rest of the law could remain in place. |
| This viewpoint was being argued on Wednesday by H Bartow Farr III, a private lawyer appointed by the judges. | |
| The court also will spend an hour in the afternoon considering the states' challenge to the expansion of the Medicaid programme for low-income and disabled Americans. | |
| On Tuesday, the justices spent two hours grilling lawyers about the individual mandate, which would require eligible Americans to hold health insurance or face a fine. | |
| Justice Anthony Kennedy, a conservative regarded as a possible swing vote on the bench, asked whether the measure was a "step beyond what our cases allow". | |
| But he conceded that removing the requirement for all Americans to be covered would affect "the rates of insurance and the costs of providing medical care in a way that is not true in other industries". | |
| The conservative Chief Justice John Roberts appeared sceptical of the argument by the law's challengers that if the federal government can require people to purchase health insurance, it can also make them buy cars. | |
| "Everybody is in this market, so that makes it very different than the market for cars or the other hypotheticals that you came up with, and all they're regulating is how you pay for it," he said. | |
| The justices are expected to meet in private on Friday to discuss the arguments made during the hearings. They may also conduct a preliminary vote on how they intend to rule on the case. | |
| Each justice will then draft a written opinion on the case. | |
| There are nine Supreme Court justices - five appointed by Republican US presidents and four by Democrats. | There are nine Supreme Court justices - five appointed by Republican US presidents and four by Democrats. |
| The law can survive if just one of the conservative appointees joins the four liberals on the bench, but if the conservatives remain unified, the law would be overturned. | The law can survive if just one of the conservative appointees joins the four liberals on the bench, but if the conservatives remain unified, the law would be overturned. |
Who's uninsured? Health insurance rates across the US | Who's uninsured? Health insurance rates across the US |
| Are you in the US? What are your thoughts on Obama's healthcare reform? What do you think about the Supreme Court's hearings on the legislation? You can send us your views using the form below. | Are you in the US? What are your thoughts on Obama's healthcare reform? What do you think about the Supreme Court's hearings on the legislation? You can send us your views using the form below. |