By Leslie Meltzer Henry and Maxwell L. Stearns
2:52 p.m. EDT, March 22, 2012
"On Monday, the Supreme Court will commence a nearly unprecedented six hours of oral argument concerning the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), signed into law two years ago tomorrow. The most significant challenge to the act involves the "individual mandate," which compels most individuals to purchase health insurance by 2014 or suffer a monetary penalty. Challengers claim that the provision violates the Commerce Clause, under which Congress has broad authority to regulate interstate commerce, and that sustaining the mandate would permit Congress to enact laws requiring individuals to do whatever it chooses. Both arguments are mistaken. The ACA is consistent with long-standing precedent allowing Congress to tackle regulatory problems affecting commerce that states are ill-suited to solve on their own."