The Affordable Care Act that became law last year promises to make health care affordable and accessible for nearly all Americans, including Americans with mesothelioma. However, many people object to the law and want it repealed and replaced with something else. Several states have challenged the act in court, mostly on the basis that mandating that people must purchase health insurance, which the Affordable Care Act stipulates, exceeds the constitutional powers of Congress.
Today a federal judge in Florida ruled that the mandate for individuals to purchase health insurance is unconstitutional. So far, two federal judges have said it is constitutional, and two have said it isn’t. About a dozen other federal judges have dismissed the suits against the Act.
Today’s ruling by Judge Roger Vinson of the Federal District Court in Pensacola, Fla.,goes further than the other “nay” opinion, by Judge Henry Hudson of Virginia. Judge Hudson had ruled that only the individual mandate was unconstitutional, but that the rest of the law could stand. Judge Vinson, on the other hand, struck down the entire Affordable Care Act.
The law will stay in effect until all court challenges are resolved by the Supreme Court, which probably will take a couple of years.
A few days ago a repeal of the Affordable Care Act was passed in the House. There is little chance such a law would pass in the Senate, however, and in any event it would certainly be vetoed by President Obama. That means it is unlikely the law will be repealed unless it is struck down by the Supreme Court.
Could that happen? Anything is possible. Louis Seidman, a professor of constitutional law at Georgetown University, told Greg Sargent of the Washington Post that it will all come down to the Court’s “swing” voter, Justice Anthony Kennedy. Professor Seidman also found Judge Vinson’s reasoning to be flawed. The constitution’s “necessary and proper clause” provides for the regulation of anything that “has an effect” on interstate markets, Professor Seidman said.
A wrinkle in the repeal effort is that the insurance industry has signaled that it rather likes the individual mandate and doesn’t want it repealed. Insurance companies have been reworking their business models and preparing for millions of new customers. If the Affordable Care Act, or even just the individual mandate, is tossed out by the Court a couple of years from now, health insurance companies could see it as a big setback.
And, of course, the United States would go back to square one in reforming health care.
This entry was posted on Monday, January 31st, 2011 at 6:59 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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