Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Health Reform Challenge

The Supreme Court [announced Monday that it will review the constitutionality of the health reform law](http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/15/us/supreme-court-to-hear-case-challenging-health-law.html?_r=1&hp). As Marcia Coyle of the National Law Journal [described in a post last week, the court was asked to consider five key issues](http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2011/11/the-supreme-courts-health-reform-checklist.html) tied to President Obama's signature domestic policy achievement. In the end, they decided to examine four -- the legality of the individual mandate, whether a "tax" can be reviewed by the court before it takes effect, whether the individual mandate can be severed from the rest of the reform law, and the legality of the Medicaid expansion. [Read Coyle's full post explaining the five key issues that were up for review before the court](http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2011/11/the-supreme-courts-health-reform-checklist.html). There will now be approximately 60 days of briefings by both sides, with five and a half hours of oral arguments alotted for an unspecified date, likely to take place March. That [sets the stage for a decision by the end of June](http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2011/11/14/142301379/supreme-court-to-decide-constitutionality-of-health-law), just months before the 2012 election. Be sure to watch the PBS NewsHour broadcast Monday evening for Marcia Coyle's full analysis.