Jennifer Kraft Quoted in Modern Healthcare
"Showdown gets a head start"

Seyfarth Shaw Employee Benefits partner Jennifer Kraft, who filed a brief against the law on behalf of the National Restaurant Association, was quoted in Modern Healthcare on March 24. The article discusses the U.S. Supreme Court consideration of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

The article provided perspectives from politicians from both political parties, including House Speaker John Boehner, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin about the controversies surrounding the Affordable Care Act.

Jennifer told Modern Healthcare that she would be "looking for early indications as to whether the court would strike down the entire law if it finds the individual mandate unconstitutional," pointing out that "the law lacks a severability provision usually included in large bills that would allow the rest of the bill to remain if any one provision is struck down. An extended line of questions about the impact of the loss of the mandate on individual programs may indicate the justices are considering severability."

The article noted that not since 1935, when it invalidated aspects of the New Deal, has the court challenged Congress on such a broad and significant initiative.