Why The Supreme Court Decision On Health Care Reform Doesn't Really Matter

Simon Lazarus is public policy counsel to the National Senior Citizens Law Center and a frequent commentator on the Supreme Court and the intersection of the law and economic and labor issues. I called him today to ask about what the next justice will need to do, and be prepared for, when they arrive at the court. A lightly edited transcript of our interview follows. EK: Do you know Elena Kagan personally? SL: No, I don't. EK: By reputation?

By Suzy Khimm Though reform opponents have derided the Affordable Care Act for being a "federal takeover" of the health-care system, the new health law actually leaves a lot up to the states.

The Supreme Court rules Thursday on its biggest case — President Obama's health-care reform — but the decision is unlikely to be the last word on America's tangled efforts to address health-care woes.

By Suzy Khimm I wrote last week about how the fate of health reform depends on the states, given their starring role in carrying out major parts of the Affordable Care Act. They'll be hugely responsible for setting up the new insurance exchanges -- which have to be running by 2014 -- and enforcing the beefed-up insurance regulations. But there are changes already underway that will give us an early preview of what's to come.

Republicans have a much lower opinion of Chief Justice John Roberts and the Supreme Court in general following the court's June 28 decision that upheld President Barack Obama's health care reform law. Only 27 percent of Republicans surveyed by Gallup last week said they had a favorable opinion of Roberts, down from 67 percent after [...]