On Monday, the United States Supreme Court rejected the request by Virginia that the Court accept immediate review of whether PPACA is constitutional, without waiting for the case to go through the usual intermediate appeals process. Virginia had argued that the case will eventually be resolved by the US Supreme Court in any event, so the Court should accept the case immediately.
As reported by Brent Kendall in his article for the Wall Street Journal, the Court did so without any recorded vote or statement and apparently all nine Justices participated in the decision. Controversy has arisen regarding whether Justice Kagan (former United States Attorney General) and Justice Thomas (whose wife is an outspoken critic of the law) should participate in any review of PPACA.
The constitutionality of PPACA will still likely be decided by the Supreme Court — Monday’s order likely only delays the matter until later this year or early next year. The various PPACA cases (including the Virginia case) will continue through the usual appeals process, with at least three being argued in May or June. After those decisions come down, we will likely see one or more cases taken up by the high Court. There are currently cases involving some kind of challenge to PPACA pending in approximately half of the US Courts of Appeals. For an excellent listing of the various cases and upcoming deadlines, see the ACA Litigation Blog.
