Professor Robert Field was quoted in the Scientific American on June 20 concerning the potential impact on patient safety, should the U.S. Supreme Court overturn the Affordable Care Act in the ruling it is slated to make this summer.

Reforms to safeguard patients will take longer to achieve if the court overturns the complex law, Field said in the article. 

Field predicated that the U.S. Supreme Court will uphold portions of the controversial law in a survey the National Constitution Center published on June 14. Yahoo News also published a story on the survey.

The survey featured predictions by 15 other leading opinion-makers, including President Obama, GOP Presidential nominee Mitt Romney, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and CNN commentator Jeffrey Toobin.

Field, who covered arguments concerning the law’s individual mandate for the Philadelphia Inquirer, predicted that portions of the sweeping legislation would be upheld, even if the court strikes down the controversial requirement to obtain insurance.   Field’s remarks, made soon after the Supreme Court heard arguments in March, acknowledged that the high court’s swing vote, Justice Anthony Kennedy, appeared poised to rule against the individual mandate.

The court is expected to announce its ruling in the last week of June.