Supreme Court Allows New Plaintiffs in Health Care Law Challenge

Fox News ^ | January 17, 2012 | Shannon Bream

[maddog55]

The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed the addition of two new business owners to a suit challenging the health care law that was in question because one of the original business owners attached to the case has gone bankrupt.

Supporters of President Obama’s health care law argued that her bankruptcy made Mary Brown ineligible to continue on as a plaintiff, suggesting the entire case could fall apart because of a lack of standing.

Other business owners were attached to the case, but the Justice Department would not stipulate that they met the standards for establishing standing in this case.

[massgopguy]

So anyone whose business is destroyed by ObamaCare has no standing?

[TheBattman]

Supporters of President Obama’s health care law argued that her bankruptcy made Mary Brown ineligible to continue on as a plaintiff, suggesting the entire case could fall apart because of a lack of standing.

How convenient- kind of like when witnesses against mob bosses are "disappeared"... no witness, no case.

[In Maryland]

"So anyone whose business is destroyed by ObamaCare has no standing?"

At this point, one would have a very hard time proving ObamaCare has destroyed a business. In any case, trying to determine that would inject an issue into the decision that is not part of the lower courts' record - which the court is generally loathe to do.

But, the central question for businesses is the penalties that will be assessed for failure to provide health insurance. A business that is not a going concern will not be subject to those provisions, so they have no standing. They will not be harmed if they will no longer exist on January 1, 2014.

It would be a completely seperate action for a business that had suffered actual damages - but, if Congress has passed a law, the President has signed it, and the Supreme Court finds it constitutional, I don't know how you could bring a sucessful suit. Government actions destroy businesses every day - if those actions are taken legally, you have little recourse.