As the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week on federal health care reforms passed under the Obama administration, Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen was in the room to watch the proceedings. Wisconsin was among the 26 plaintiffs in the case challenging the constitutionality of a mandate for individuals to purchase health insurance.
Near the end of arguments on Wednesday, Van Hollen said things appeared to be “going very well, from our perspective” and he’s confident the high court will rule in their favor to strike down the law.
The last day of arguments focused largely on what would happen if the individual mandate is overturned. Van Hollen says the majority of the court seemed to be signaling that could happen with their tone of questioning, and he left with the impression that they are just trying to sort out what should happen to the rest of the law if the mandate portion is thrown out.
If the entire law is overturned, Van Hollen says it would mean massive savings for Wisconsin because an expansion of the Medicaid program would no longer be necessary.
A decision from the Court is not expected until later this year.
AUDIO: Andrew Beckett reports (1:07)
