Supreme Court Sets Date to Review Health Care Reform Law Challenges

The U.S. Supreme Court on Nov. 10 will look at the health care reform law challenges to decide whether to take up the cases that will decide the fate of President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act.

SCOTUSblog first reported Wednesday that the Supreme Court will hold a conference that day and review the five legal challenges to the health care reform law. A sixth petition is expected to become part of the mix once all the requisite court documents are filed.

The Supreme Court has a lot of leeway in choosing which legal challenge to accept. The justices can take some, all or none of the petitions.

Furthermore, each petition deals with certain aspects of the health care law, such as the constitutionality of the mandate requiring most Americans carry health insurance, whether the rest of the law can stand without the mandate, and whether the mandate can even be challenged in court before the law kicks in.

The fate of Obama's health care law depends on which Supreme Court petitions the justices choose.

The petitions to the Supreme Court were filed following lower appellate court decisions. Only one, from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, upheld the constitutionality of the individual mandate. The Eleventh Circuit struck down the mandate, but kept the rest of the law intact.

Meanwhile, the Fourth Circuit booted a legal challenge from court because of an obscure tax law that prohibits law suits against taxes that have yet to be levied. The law applied because Americans who fail to get health insurance after the mandate goes into effect in 2014 will get hit with a tax penalty.