Dive Brief:
- U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia's death last Saturday raises not only the question of who will fill the empty SCOTUS seat and when, but what will become of the court's healthcare cases in the meantime.
- Scalia was known for his conservative stance and his opposing views on SCOTUS' upholding of major cases around the Affordable Care Act.
- In losing Scalia, SCOTUS' loses its previous alignment of four conservatives, four liberals and one swing vote, leaving the court--for now--most likely to lean liberal or tie.
Dive Insight:
The court could be dealing with an empty seat for some time if congressional Republicans refuse to act on a forthcoming nomination by President Obama, with the intent of pushing the appointment of a new justice back until after a new president is elected in November.
In the meantime, the fate of several major healthcare cases could be determined by whether they are held off or heard by the eight-member court, which risks tying and leaving the case to either default back to the decision of the lower court or to be re-heard later when the Supreme Court is whole.
The issues at stake include abortion regulation, the ACA's contraception mandate, required data sharing for a state all-payer database, and healthcare fraud regulation.