The decision we’ve all been waiting for is in — the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the statute commonly known as the individual insurance mandate (everyone must have minimum health insurance coverage or pay a penalty) is constitutional under Congress’ taxing power. Because the individual mandate was upheld, the rest of the Affordable Care Act (“PPACA”) has also survived. The … Continue Reading
Following Friday’s oral arguments about the constitutionality of PPACA’s individual insurance mandate in the Seven-Sky v. Holder case and in anticipation of the government’s filing tomorrow in the U.S. Supreme Court, we thought it might be helpful to recap where the courts are on the issue. So far, the score in the courts of appeals is … Continue Reading
On August 12, 2011, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit became the second U.S. appellate court to consider the constitutionality of the “individual mandate” under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“PPACA”) for individuals to maintain health insurance or pay a monetary penalty. While the Sixth Circuit upheld the constitutionality … Continue Reading
Today, the Eleventh Circuit issued a whopping 300-page opinion holding PPACA’s individual insurance mandate unconstitutional, in Florida v. HHS, siding with the numerous States that filed or have since joined the case. This is directly contrary to the Sixth Circuit’s June 26 decision in the Thomas Moore case, holding that the statute was constitutional. Notably, both courts delivered divided 2-1 opinions. … Continue Reading
In a lengthy decision in Florida v. DHHS yesterday, a judge in Florida ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, including 26 state attorneys general, that all provisions of PPACA are unconstitutional, as they exceed Congress’ authority. First, the court decided that the individual insurance mandate went beyond the appropriate scope of Congress’ power to regulate interstate commerce. The … Continue Reading
The constitutional challenges to PPACA keep coming in. So far, the tally is two decisions for and two against. Two decisions are currently on appeal, and the most recent decision will likely be headed to the appellate courts soon. The decisions in favor of PPACA: As reported earlier here and at SSD’s Sixth Circuit blog, in … Continue Reading
We are beginning to see action (and divergent results) on the various court challenges to PPACA, starting with two recent decisions. As explained in SSD’s Sixth Circuit Blog, the federal court for the Western District of Michigan dismissed the case of Thomas More Law Center, et al. v. Obama (E.D. Mich., Case No. 10-CV-11156) (PDF) that challenged whether Congress has authority … Continue Reading
