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The Affordable Care Act is on trial for the second day today in Washington DC as the Supreme Court hears arguments for and against a provision of the healthcare reform legislation that is considered a landmark achievement of the Obama administration. The Justices scheduled three days of oral arguments heard in two-hour sessions, ending tomorrow, making it the longest argument before the court in 45 years. Twenty-six states have initiated lawsuits against the federal government, challenging the constitutionality of the ACA. The case before the Court is the Department of Health and Human Services, et al., Petitioners v. Florida, et al.

The most controversial provision of the ACA is the so-called individual mandate, set to go into effect in 2014, which requires any uninsured American to pay a penalty for not having health insurance. Yesterday, the court heard Washington lawyer Robert A. Long argue that it is premature to consider legal challenges to the law because the penalty is actually a tax, and an 1867 law prohibits lawsuits against taxes that have not gone into effect. Observers generally believe the Court will not define the penalty as a tax protected by that law.

The Supreme Court is expected to issue a decision on the broader constitutionality of the legislation in the coming months and its ruling could shake-up President Obama’s reelection campaign. A record 136 “friend of the court” briefs have been filed regarding the case with the individual mandate having attracted opposition from all sides of the ideological spectrum. Physicians for a National Health Program estimates that at least 26 million Americans will remain uninsured when the Affordable Care Act is fully implemented in 2014.

GUEST: Dr. Margaret Flowers ,an organizer with the National Occupation of Washington, D.C. She was also one of 50 doctors who signed onto an amicus curiae brief filed with the Supreme Court in February, arguing against the individual mandate and in favor of a single-payer healthcare system, Russell Mokhiber, founder of Single Payer Action and editor of the Corporate Crime Reporter

Visit www.singlepayeraction.org, www.nowdc.org, www.healthcare-now.org, and www.pnhp.org.