Judges from the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit have ruled that it is constitutional for Congress to require all Americans to purchase health insurance in 2014. Two other courts still need to make their decision about this. This issue could, potentially, be taken up by the Supreme Court.
A panel of three judges in the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, in Cincinnati, Ohio, ruled on this case. There will be rulings on the same issue soon in the Fourth Circuit Court in Richmond, Virginia, and in the Eleventh Circuit Court in Atlanta, Georgia. There is the expectation that this particular issue will eventually be reviewed by the Supreme Court.
This appeal was filed by the Thomas More Law Center. According to the organizations website, the Thomas More Law Center is a “not -for -profit public interest law firm dedicated to the defense and promotion of the religious freedom of Christians, time-honored family values, and the sanctity of human life.”
This group feels that the requirement that every American must purchase health insurance in 2014 is unconstitutional. They filed the appeal in the hopes that the Court of Appeals would overturn the previous ruling made by Federal District Judge George C. Steeh, of Detroit, who decided that the health insurance requirement was constitutional, under the Commerce Clause of the Constitution.
On the other side of this appeal is the federal government, who continues to pose their argument that Congress can require everyone to buy health insurance in 2014, and that it is constitutional to do so. It should come as no surprise that the federal government feels this way, considering that the Affordable Care Act was something put into place by President Obama and his administration.
Out of the three judge panel, two ruled that the health insurance requirement was constitutional, and one ruled that it was not. One of the judges who voted that it was constitutional had been appointed by a Republican president, and the other had been appointed by a president who was a Democrat. In other words, one judge seems to have gone against the party line of the president who appointed him when he cast his vote.
The next step is to wait and see how the other two Circuit Courts rule on this same issue. The first one voted that it is constitutional to require Americans to purchase health insurance. If the other two courts feel the same way, then I think that means this issue will have been decided. I’m not sure what happens if the other two courts decide that it is unconstitutional, or if one of them does and the other does not.
Image by Keith Burtis on Flickr