By Elana Gordon
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kcur/local-kcur-990239.mp3
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – More than a year after he first voiced opposition to health reform, Missouri Lt. Governor Peter Kinder will finally have his day in court.
The Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals will hear arguments this week in Kinder's challenge to the federal health law. Lawyers representing both Kinder and the federal government are scheduled to present their case in St. Paul, Minnesota this Thursday.
Kinder filed the suit last year as a private individual. Then in April, a federal judge ruled that Kinder did not have the legal standing to bring many of the claims in the lawsuit, and dismissed it.
Now Kinder is appealing that decision, more specifically alleging that a key part of the federal health law - the mandate that most people buy health insurance starting in 2014 - is unconstitutional.
Officials from more than 20 states have filed briefs in support of Kinder's challenge. At least ten have filed briefs against it.
In other legal challenges, one circuit court has struck down the health insurance mandate, and one has upheld it.
Ultimately, the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to decide on the constitutionality of the health law and will likely take up the case by this summer.
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