If the morning’s tough questioning is any indication, it looks like the U.S. Supreme Court may kill the insurance mandate portion of the health care reform act, both the New York Times and National Public Radio are reporting. NPR’s Nina Totenberg says Scalia, Alito and Thomas are clear no votes, and the Times reports that Stephens Roberts asked the government lawyers if the government could “compel the purchase of cellphones.” More from the Times:
Everything about the argument was outsized. It was, at two hours, twice the usual length. The questioning was, even by the standards of the garrulous current court, unusually intense and pointed. And the atmosphere in the courtroom, which is generally subdued, was electric.
Without the mandate, how will the rest of the health insurance law fare?