US News

Prez plan setback

The Obama administration has decided not to ask a federal appeals court in Atlanta for further review of a ruling striking down the centerpiece of President Obama’s health-care overhaul.

The decision makes it more likely that the Supreme Court will hear a case on the issue in its term starting next month, and deliver a verdict in the midst of the 2012 presidential-election campaign.

The Atlanta circuit ruling sided with 26 states that had sued to stop the law from taking effect because it forced people to purchase health insurance.

Other appeals courts have weighed in on the issue with a slew of conflicting decisions.