latimes.com/health/la-na-obama-healthcare-20110201,0,6803044.story
Judge rules Obama healthcare law unconstitutional
The ruling by a federal judge in Florida goes beyond a 2010 ruling that the
law's insurance mandate is unconstitutional. Two other federal courts previously
ruled the law and its mandate were permissible. The stage is now set for an
appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
By Noam N. Levey and David G. Savage, Washington Bureau
12:39 PM PST, January 31, 2011
Reporting from Washington
A federal judge in Florida dealt President Obama's healthcare overhaul
another legal blow Monday, ruling that the entire law is unconstitutional
because of a requirement in the legislation that Americans get health insurance
starting in 2014.
U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson's widely anticipated
decision goes beyond a separate ruling by a federal judge in Virginia who last
year ruled only that the insurance mandate is unconstitutional.
In
separate lawsuits, two other federal courts have ruled that the law and its
insurance mandate are permissible under the so-called Commerce Clause of the
Constitution.
The divided opinions set the stage for a potentially
landmark constitutional debate in the higher courts, with a final decision
expected in the U.S. Supreme Court, perhaps as soon as next year.
Vinson,
an appointee of President Reagan, signaled for months that he would back the
challenge to the law filed by Florida's Republican attorney general and joined
by 25 other states.
And in his ruling Monday, he said he had no choice
but to invalidate the law.
"The existing problems in our national health
care system are recognized by everyone in this case," Vinson wrote in the
78-page ruling. "Regardless of how laudable its attempts may have been to
accomplish these goals in passing the Act, Congress must operate within the
bounds established by the Constitution. c I must reluctantly conclude that
Congress exceeded the bounds of its authority in passing the Act with the
individual mandate."
Vinson rejected a second claim by the states that
the healthcare overhaul unlawfully forced them to expand their Medicaid
insurance programs for the poor, another key part of the new law.
And he
declined to stop implementation of the law, as the plaintiffs
requested.
Vinson's decision comes six weeks after a similar ruling in
December by a federal judge in Virginia, who backed a lawsuit by that state's
attorney general. U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson, a Republican, also concluded
the insurance mandate was unconstitutional, though he declined to halt
implementation of the law while higher courts considered the case.
The
U.S. 4th Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., has agreed to
expedite its review of the Virginia case, scheduling hearings for
May.
Other federal judges in Michigan and Florida — both appointed by
President Clinton — have concluded that Congress had the authoruty to require
Americans to get health insurance.
With some exceptions, the
unprecedented insurance mandate will require Americans to get health insurance
and penalize those who do not.
The requirement was designed to spread
risk more broadly and control insurance premiums, enabling the federal
government to offer consumers other protections, such as prohibiting insurers
from denying coverage to patients with preexisting medical
conditions.
Without a mandate, healthy Americans would be able to avoid
buying insurance until they got sick. That phenomenon, which has occurred in
several states that have guaranteed coverage without any insurance requirement,
has helped drive up premiums.
But the mandate remains the most unpopular
feature of the healthcare overhaul and has helped galvanize a nationwide
Republican attack on the new law.
Nineteen states joined the Florida suit
last year: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Indiana, Idaho,
Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Pennsylvania,
South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and Washington.
And in January,
six more states joined the lawsuit after new GOP governors took office — Ohio,
Kansas, Wyoming, Wisconsin, Maine and Iowa.
Except for Louisiana, the
states are represented by Republican attorneys general or governors.
The
National Federation of Independent Business, a leading conservative
small-business group, also joined the suit.
Several dozen leading
consumer groups, medical associations and patient advocates have joined the
Obama administration in defending the new law.
These include: the
American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, the American Diabetes Assn., the
American Heart Assn., the American Nurses Assn., the American Medical Assn., the
American Hospital Assn., the Catholic Health Assn. of the United States, the
National Breast Cancer Coalition, Families USA, Consumers Union and the March of
Dimes Foundation.
Copyright © 2011, Los Angeles Times