This week the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear several cases that challenge the Obama administration's health-care law, and one of the cases comes from a powerful advocacy group representing small businesses.
That National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) filed suit over the individual mandate in the health-care law, known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The constitutional question of the law focuses on the commerce clause and the ability to compel consumers to buy a product they don't want. The NFIB believes the mandate puts a costly burden on self-employed and small-business workers that is also hurting their ability to create more jobs.
"The health-care law has not lived up to its promises of reducing costs, allowing citizens to keep their coverage or improving a cumbersome system that has long been a burden to small-business owners and employees, alike," said Dan Danner, NFIB president and CEO. "The small-business community can now have hope; their voices are going to be heard in the nation?s highest court."
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, who was named in the lawsuit (NFIB v. Sibelius), told reporters: "We're very pleased that they have indeed decided to take the case. We're confident that the law is constitutional, will be upheld as constitutional."
Oral arguments are scheduled for March, and a decision would likely come in June.
Read more about the NFIB's lawsuit. The NFIB's Karen Harned explains more about the lawsuit and Supreme Court action in this video:
