June 27, 2012
By Jesse Roman, Staff Writer
The Salem News

Tomorrow, in a courtroom in Washington, D.C., the fate of one of the most controversial and complex pieces of legislation in U.S. history will be decided by nine judges.

The Supreme Court can strike down all or part of President Barack Obama’s signature health care reform law, cut out just pieces of it, or uphold the law completely. Whatever happens, the implications will be felt by hospitals, doctors, insurers, lawmakers, businesses and millions of average Americans, throughout the country and on the North Shore.

“This is a huge, really big deal,” said Bill Vernon, state director of the Massachusetts Chapter of the National Federation of Independent Businesses, the organization that is the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the health care law. “I think small-business owners are really interested in the decision from a philosophical standpoint in terms of the federal government getting involved in their operations, but also on a practical level of what it means to their business.”

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