On November 8, 2011, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., on a split vote, upheld the constitutionality of the mandate provision in the Affordable Care Act.  The dissenting judge found that there was a lack of timeliness, since the mandate does not go into effect until 2014.  Media reports indicated that the U.S. Supreme Court may have met in secret on November 9 to consider whether to take up any or all of the appellate decisions dealing with the Act. The fact that there is a conflict among the Federal Circuits heightens the likelihood that the Supreme Court will decide to take up the matter.