All Americans Lose If Health-Care Law Is Overturned

As much as we’d like to see the U.S. Supreme Court allow the entire federal health-care law to stand, it’s perfectly possible that, when it rules in a few months, the court will toss the whole thing.

If it finds that the individual mandate, the requirement that Americans either have insurance or pay a penalty, is unconstitutional, the court may also decide the rest of the law is so inextricably tied to it, everything must go. That would bring the nation back to square one on health-care reform.