In rapid fire last week, news broke about the battles being waged on the healthcare front.

Viriginia made national headlines when the Federal District Court refused to throw out this state’s lawsuit against the individual insurance mandate, a key component of the healthcare reform law. Led by Attorney General Cuccinelli, the suit challenges “whether the federal government has the power to compel individuals to purchase a particular consumer good — not as a prerequisite to some other privilege, such as driving, but merely because they live and breathe.”

There are nineteen other states that jointly have filed a similar suit.

And while the courts initially spoke, the “show-me” state of Missouri also made headlines. As the New York Times reported, “ Missouri voters on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a measure aimed at nullifying the new federal health care law, becoming the first state in the nation where ordinary people made known their dismay over the issue at the ballot box.”  Known as proposition C, it was intended to turn over the requirement that individuals must have healthcare insurance. The measure passed with 71% of the vote.

On the public relations front, the White House touted a new report by Medicare Trustees based on information from the Office of the Actuary at the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services.  The report said that Medicare will save about $8 billion by the end of next year, and as much as $575 billion over the rest of the decade.

The debate on whether the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will create savings continues not just in policy and political circles. Various government institutions responsible for measuring the financial impact of legislation produce different “scenarios”. The variation comes from interpretations of what is likely to happen. For example there are provisions for automatic cuts if Medicare costs accelerate. Some estimates factor in that Congress will not have the political will to follow through on these cuts.

In addition criticism continues that the Administration is double counting savings that are being used to improve the financial solvency of the Medicare Trust Fund but at the same time using those savings to pay for benefits for those previously uninsured.

If you feel as if you are watching a tennis match, please know you aren’t alone. The debate will ebb and flow over time with significant influence coming from the outcome of November’s election. There are clear tensions rising between the states and the federal government that we see playing out not just in healthcare but in other areas as well, most notably, immigration.

While the political national discourse continues, I am trying to spend more time focusing on how those who provide healthcare are reacting to the new legislation and how states are addressing their own healthcare reform.  As consumers, I think it is imperative that we don’t lose sight of those who are stepping up to the plate to innovate, regardless of the political battlefields.