President Obama signs the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act into law. March, 2010.

One of the most contested aspects of President Obama’s Affordable Care Act is the “individual mandate,” the requirement that nearly all Americans have health insurance.

Today, the Washington, D.C. Court of Appeals upheld the constitutionality of mandated insurance. The decision was written by Laurence Silberman, a Reagan appointee.

Today’s decision may mean little as the U.S. Supreme Court is likely to take up the issue, but Silberman is the second conservative judge to back the legality of the individual mandate.

Kaiser Health News summarizes coverage from across the country.