Will health insurance legislation be decided by Supreme Court?

With 14 stat es filing or planning to file legal challenges to a new federal health insurance mandate, the U.S. Supreme Court may be called upon to decide the legislation's constitutionality.  

Thus far, Republican state attorneys general – from Virginia, Florida, South Carolina, Nebraska, Texas, Michigan, Utah, Pennsylvania, Alabama, South Dakota, Idaho, Washington and Colorado are joining the legal challenge. Buddy Caldwell, a Democrat attorney general, also has joined the challenge after a request by Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal.

The Washington Times reported March 29 that "Two major constitutional challenges have been levied against the new law, one by the state of Virginia, which enacted a law exempting its citizens from the federal health insurance mandate, and another by Florida and 12 other states. Legal scholars are divided on the merits of the cases, and even Congress – through its research service and its budget scorekeeper – has said it's an open question whether the provision could pass constitutional muster.

"At issue is the scope of the federal government's power over states and individuals. Critics of the law say the requirement that all Americans buy insurance or pay a fine, if allowed, would mean that Congress has virtually boundless authority to compel actions."

Ohio attorney General Richard Cordray said he won't join the states' challenge to the health insurance mandate, which becomes effective in 2014.

According to The Columbus Dispatch, the Ohio Liberty Council (http://www.ohiolibertycouncil.org/) wants to put an issue on the fall ballot that would amend the state constitution to prohibit the federal, state or local governments from requiring that Ohioans buy health insurance or face fines.

If Cordray certifies a summary of the proposed amendment and the Ohio Ballot Board rules it is a single issue, the group then needs to collect 402,275 valid signatures of registered Ohio voters by June 30 to qualify for the Nov. 2 ballot, the Dispatch reported.

The Dispatch quoted former U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine, a Republican who is  challenging Cordray, as calling on the attorney general to join the lawsuit "against the federal government for overreaching its authority with the Obamacare bill."

"If Mr. Cordray doesn't act, I will file suit on my first day in office," DeWine said in a release. Cordray replied that DeWine had the chance to address health care when he was in the U.S. Senate and didn't.