Three grueling, topsy-turvy days of arguments in the Supreme Court over the constitutionality of President Obama’s health care law came to a close last week. At stake: Whether Congress exceeded its constitutional powers by requiring Americans to buy health insurance. It’s one of the central ideas behind the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, more popularly known as “Obamacare.”
Should the Supreme Court decide PPACA is unconstitutional by its expected decision date – June 2012 – the results could shift the presidential election and our country’s health care system into entirely different directions. Judging by how things went on day two, that scenario is now easier to imagine than ever. Obama has already come out swinging against the Supreme Court, warning them against overturning the legislation.
To help illustrate what has happened in the president’s health care fight so far, we created an interactive timeline tracing all of the major events in the history of the Affordable Care Act, from the plan’s genesis to the recent legal battles. Let us know what you think of the PPACA timeline in the comments below.
Click on the icons to move the timeline up and down, or use your up and down arrow keys.
Sources:
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patient_Protection_and_Affordable_Care_Act
Reuters: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/26/us-usa-healthcare-court-timeline-idUSBRE82P03I20120326
NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/06/us/06health.html?_r=1&fta=y
YouTube/CNN: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjA6eJ3R-UQ
NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/04/opinion/04krugman.html
NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/06/us/politics/06edwards.html
Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/08/07/palin-obamas-death-panel_n_254399.html
Newsmax: http://www.newsmax.com/Stossel/healthcare-filibuster-PaulKrugman-SarahPalin/2009/12/30/id/344974
U.S. House of Representatives Roll Call: http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2010/roll167.xml
YouTube/The White House: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Of_ZiJNZvyw
