Analysis, political posturing after health law ruling

Monday's court decision triggered a wave of analysis, speculation, posturing and predictions about what health reform's future will hold.

The New York Times: Law Will Proceed, Administration Says
A court decision striking down a central provision of the new health care law will not disrupt efforts to carry it out, even though the ruling could increase confusion and embolden critics, Obama administration officials and employers said Monday (Pear and Abelson, 12/13).

The Associated Press: White House: Health Care Does Not Create Uncertainty
The White House says it disagrees with a Virginia judge's ruling declaring a key provision of President Barack Obama's health care law unconstitutional. But officials say it does not create uncertainty about the implementation of the law's provisions (12/13).

PBS NewsHour: Health Reform Law: Will It Survive New Judicial Scrutiny?
In the latest in a spate of challenges to the sweeping health care reform law, a Virginia judge said certain provisions, including an individual insurance coverage requirement, were unconstitutional. Betty Ann Bowser reports then Gwen Ifill speaks with Neera Tanden of the Center For American Progress and attorney David Rivkin (12/13).

The Christian Science Monitor: Health Care Ruling: Are Obama's Reforms In Trouble?
The ruling likely will energize Republicans working to repeal or significantly amend the legislation, for one thing. Many in the GOP were almost gleeful after US District Judge Henry Hudson issued his finding that the so-called "individual mandate," which requires Americans to buy health insurance by 2014 or face a fee, violates the Constitution (Grier, 12/13).

The Wall Street Journal Washington Wire: Republicans Cheer Health Care Ruling
Republicans seized on Monday's ruling by a federal judge in Virginia that a central plank of President Barack Obama's health care law — requiring most Americans to carry insurance — violates the Constitution (O'Connor, 12/13).

Politico: Health Ruling Is GOP Rallying Cry
Lawmakers pounced on the news Monday that a federal judge has struck down health reform's individual mandate — with Republicans welcoming it as a body blow to "Obamacare" and Democrats dubbing it a detour on the road to reform (Haberkorn and Wong, 12/13).

The Washington Post: Fate Of Health-Care Law Likely To Be Decided By Supreme Court
Perhaps the only issue on which opponents and supporters of the health-care law can agree is that its fate will probably be decided by the Supreme Court (Aizenman, 12/13).

The New York Times: Years Of Wrangling Lie Ahead For Health Law
By contradicting two prior opinions, Monday's court ruling in Virginia against the Obama health care law highlighted both the novelty of the constitutional issues and the difficulty of forging consensus among judges who bring differences in experience, philosophy and partisan background to the bench (Sack, 12/13).

Politico: Health Law Ruling Only The Beginning
Opponents of the Democrats' health care reform law won a major victory in federal court Monday — but even the ambitious attorney general who brought the case acknowledges that there's a long way to go (Haberkorn and Kliff, 12/14).

The New York Times: News Analysis: Just One Ruling, But An Outsize One
By the numbers, President Obama is beating opponents of his signature health care bill two to one in federal court. Of the three district court judges who have ruled on the merits of constitutional challenges to the landmark Affordable Care Act, two have sided with Mr. Obama (Stolberg, 12/13).

Bloomberg: Lack Of Health Mandate Would Lead To Skyrocketing Costs, U.S. Insurers Say
Eliminating the mandate undercuts insurers' ability under the law to guarantee coverage for people with pre-existing conditions and to lower cost for those who can't afford to buy plans, said Robert Zirkelbach, a spokesman for the Washington lobby group, America's Health Insurance Plans (Wayne and Armstrong, 12/13).

Politico: Hudson Ruling And Govt. Power
U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson's opinion finding a key part of President Barack Obama's health care law to be unconstitutional delighted libertarians Monday, but belied Hudson's past history of championing government power in other areas such as criminal justice and prosecuting obscenity (Gerstein, 12/13).

The Christian Science Monitor: Health Care Law: Why Federal Judge Struck Key Provision Down
Hudson is the first federal judge to rule that the law is unconstitutional. Two judges — one in Lynchburg, Va., and one in Detroit — have issued decisions upholding the law. Both said the measure was within Congress's powers under the commerce clause (Richey, 12/13).