The Supreme Court announced its schedule for oral arguments to determine the constitutionality of the federal health reform law. The court will devote a total of five-and-a-half hours to the case from March 26 to March 28, 2012.
On March 26, the high court will listed to one hour of arguments addressing the Anti-Injunction Act. The issue pertains to whether courts have the authority to rule on the individual mandate before 2014, when the individual mandate takes effect and most residents could face penalties for failing to obtain health insurance.
On March 27, the justices will hear two hours of arguments addressing the constitutionality of the individual mandate.
On March 28 the high court will hear 90 minutes of debate on the issue of severability, which means whether striking down the individual mandate invalidates the entire law. The justices also will hear arguments regarding the legality of the Medicaid expansion under the overhaul
The court could issue a ruling on the overhaul in June.