Court fight over healthcare reform shifts to Florida

A federal judge in Florida will start hearing arguments Thursday in the latest legal challenge to the constitutionality of a key provision of the nation's new health-care reform law -- that nearly all Americans must carry health insurance or face a financial penalty.

On Monday, a federal judge in Virginia sided with that state's attorney general, who contended that the insurance mandate violated the Constitution, making it the first successful challenge to the legislation.

The dispute over the constitutionality of the insurance mandate is similar to the arguments in about two dozen health-care reform lawsuits that have been filed across the country. Besides the Virginia case, two federal judges have upheld the law and 12 other cases have been dismissed on technicalities, according to Politico.com.