© 2024
NPR for Northern Colorado
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Judge's Health Care Ruling Sparks Wide Range Of Opinions

A federal judge's ruling Monday that, as Shots' Scott Hensley writes, the health care overhaul "overreached by mandating that practically everyone in the country be required to have health insurance," is still being dissected. Shots will have more on the ruling later.

Meanwhile, here's a collection of headlines and analyses you might want to click on if you're trying to figure out what's going on -- though opinions seem to be all over the place and don't necessarily fall along the usual partisan lines:

--The Washington Post's liberal-leaning Ezra Klein: "Health-Reform Advocates Have Little To Fear From Judge's Ruling."

-- The Wall Street Journal: "The 42-page ruling doesn't mean states or the federal government must stop implementing the law. But it is expected to give ammunition to a broad Republican assault against the overhaul."

-- USA TODAY: "The first judicial ruling against a key part of President Obama's landmark health care law has boosted efforts by opponents who want it repealed, stripped of funding or struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court, a battle that could take years."

-- The conservative Weekly Standard: "Yesterday's ruling by a federal district judge, declaring that Obamacare's individual mandate is unconstitutional, is a noteworthy blow to the highly unpopular overhaul and its ultimate prospects for survival."

-- UCLA law professor Adam Winkler on the liberal Huffington Post:"Monday's federal court decision declaring key provisions of the health care law unconstitutional was not just a major setback for President Obama's signature piece of legislation. It was also a reminder that the courts are an even greater threat to his agenda than the new Republican majority in the House."

-- The conservative RedState.com: "My initial impression is that, while this ruling will widely be viewed as a victory for opponents of Obamacare, there are some potential problems with the opinion that may result in this opinion being a net loss down the road (where it will inevitably be decided by the Supreme Court in any case)."

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Mark Memmott is NPR's supervising senior editor for Standards & Practices. In that role, he's a resource for NPR's journalists – helping them raise the right questions as they do their work and uphold the organization's standards.