DOJ: Ruling Against Reform Should Not Halt its Rollout

This week, the Department of Justice sent a letter to U.S. District Court Judge Roger Vinson arguing that the 26 states in the multistate lawsuit challenging the federal health reform law should not have expected Vinson to halt implementation of the overhaul because the individual mandate applies to only 10 of the law's 450 provisions. DOJ said that halting implementation would complicate the nation's health care system because many overhaul provisions already have taken effect.

• "Judge Never Addressed Stopping Health Law, Administration Argues" (Millman, "Healthwatch," The Hill, 2/28).