Excerpt: San Francisco's universal health care law officially survived the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday, but with eight conservative judges now raising the specter of a circuit split, business interests hope the Supreme Court will step in. The court, led by Judge William Fletcher, denied en banc review to the Golden Gate Restaurant Association, which had challenged San Francisco's ordinance in November 2006 after the county board of supervisors gave it unanimous approval. But Judge Milan Smith Jr. and seven colleagues sharply critiqued the majority's decision, saying it contradicts the 4th Circuit's ruling in a similar case and flouts Congress' 35-year-old Employee Retirement Income Security Act.  MORE >>