Today, a federal judge in Florida has ruled that the mandatory requirement that all Americans must purchase health insurance is unconstitutional. It is expected that the federal government will file for a stay, and that these kinds of court cases will eventually be heard by the Supreme Court.
The ruling by Judge Roger Vinson, in Pensacola, Florida, today matches the ruling by Judge Henry E. Hudson in a similar court case. Both of those rulings are the opposite of how Judge George Steeh ruled, on yet another case, in Michigan, when he decided that the law that would require all Americans to buy health insurance was constitutional. This brings the outcome of the cases regarding this law at a tie, at two to two at this time.
The current law that would require everyone to purchase health insurance in 2014, (or else pay a fine), will remain in effect until the entire appeals process is concluded. It might take two more years for that to be completed.
The court case that was ruled on today by Judge Vinson was filed shortly after the health care law was signed. The plaintiffs in this case include the governors and attorneys general from 26 states, and the National Federation of Independent Business. The federal government, the defendants in this case, are expected to file a stay against this ruling.
Judge Vinson concluded that “Congress exceeded the bounds of its authority in passing the act with the individual mandate”. He did feel that there are some problems and inequities in the current health care system, and that those problems need to be resolved. He also said that Congress has the power to reform and regulate the health care market. In short, the judge decided that the way that Congress was intending to enact reform, by making a law that requires all Americans to buy health insurance, is unconstitutional.
It has been said that the way Congress intended to protect Americans from being preyed upon by ruthless insurance companies was through this controversial law. If I am understanding everything correctly, the idea was that Congress would set up health care exchanges, so that Americans would be able to easily compare rates from different insurance companies, and find affordable health care. Those exchanges would exclude insurance companies who did things like refusing to cover sick kids, refusing to cover adults who had pre-existing conditions, or raising their rates to exorbitant prices.
Whatever good intentions may have been behind the creation of this law are irrelevant. The big question was whether or not that law is unconstitutional. The ruling today by Judge Vinson emphasizes that Congress has to stay within the boundaries that are established in the Constitution when it makes laws. It will be very interesting to see what happens next, in regards to these types of court cases.
Image by Brian Turner on Flickr