Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

In his new book, The Ten Year War, Jonathan Cohn looks at the intense debate surrounding the Affordable Care Act, the compromises of the law itself, and the ongoing fight for universal health care.

Eleven years ago, when she was 24, Katherine Standefer was working as a ski instructor and a climbing teacher in Jackson, Wyo., when she suddenly passed out in a parking lot. She later learned that she has long QT syndrome, a genetic heart condition in which the heart can suddenly quiver instead of rhythmically pumping blood. Standefer chronicles the ways her condition and the implanted defibrillator changed her life in the book Lightning Flowers. Looking back, she feels particularly grateful for her present health.

"Republicans have been trying to drive a stake into the heart of Obamacare pretty much since it was passed — both through legislation and litigation," New York Times reporter Sarah Kliff says.

Vox.com correspondent Sarah Kliff says Republicans determined to replace and repeal Obamacare are finding it's "awfully difficult to write a bill that would get rid of it entirely."

President Trump has vowed to repeal the Affordable Care Act, but Sarah Kliff of Vox.com says it's "an overreach" to say that Republicans have a plan for what comes next

Journalist Steven Brill's latest book critiques the Affordable Care Act, which he call "unsustainable." In the next few years, "something is going to snap," he says. "We cannot pay for this."

Journalist Jeffrey Toobin notes how Obama's appointees are a new mix of ethnic minorities, women and gay judges. But a couple of these courts are hearing suits that could undo some of Obama's actions.

The Supreme Court term ended Monday. The New York Times correspondent and lawyer Adam Liptak talks with Fresh Air's Terry Gross about what the decisions reveal about the nine justices.

The last week before the long summer recess is usually crunchtime for Congress, but that hasn't been the case for the 113th. New York Times correspondent Jonathan Weisman joins Fresh Air's Terry Gross to discuss why this Congress has passed so few laws.

As we prepare for key provisions of the act to take effect, debate over what the law means persists. Wendell Potter, a former health insurance executive and current senior policy analyst for the Center for Public Integrity, explains what will change, what will remain the same, and why he supports ObamaCare.

Jeffrey Toobin's new book, The Oath, explores how President Obama and Chief Justice John Roberts are at odds over constitutional law. Toobin tells Fresh Air that while Obama likes precedent when it comes to the Supreme Court, Roberts "wants to move the court in a dramatically new direction."

The health care case wasn't the only important decision rendered by the court during its recent term. New York Times reporter Adam Liptak rounds up the session's most important cases -- including ones addressing immigration, campaign finance and Guantanamo detainees.

Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman argues that free markets alone can't fix the health care system. Heritage Foundation Vice President Stuart Butler advocates a restructured system based on consumer choice.

Journalist Maggie Mahar, author of Money-Driven Medicine: The Real Reason Healthcare Costs So Much, has studied the economics of U.S. health care and drawn a few conclusions. She weighs in on the current debate on a health-care system overhaul.

The New Republic senior editor Jonathan Cohn discusses power players of health care reform, including the insurance lobby, the pharmaceutical lobby, the American Medical Association and Congress.

Economist Uwe Reinhardt discusses the hidden costs of the health-care bureaucracy.