CNN VideoNEW ORLEANS - Nearly a decade after President Barack Obama signed the legislation, and after it twice survived challenges at the Supreme Court, the Affordable Care Act faces a momentous test in a New Orleans courtroom this week.
The case, to be heard Tuesday by a three-judge appeals court panel, was initiated by Texas and other Republican-led states.
Ultimate resolution of the case would affect the cost and quality of health care in America.
Stripped of its tax status, the individual mandate is nothing more than an unconstitutional congressional mandate to purchase health insurance."
In the new ACA dispute, the role of the judiciary is as much at the fore as are the complexities of health care.