Washington, DC - The Supreme Court's conservative justices appeared deeply critical Tuesday of the requirement that all Americans purchase health insurance, the constitutional issue at the core of the legal challenges to President Obama's landmark health care overhaul.

n the first hour of a two-hour hearing, the court's liberal justices were largely silent, but its four most conservative members expressed reservations that upholding the mandate could significantly alter the powers of the federal government. So did Justice Anthony Kennedy, often the court's swing vote.

Kennedy said Tuesday that the law "changes the relationship of the federal government to the individual in a very fundamental way," and he pressed the Obama administration's lawyer, Solicitor General Donald Verrilli, on why the insurance requirement wouldn't leave Congress with nearly limitless authority.

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