In a blow to Obama’s healthcare law, a federal appeals court struck down the central provision of the healthcare reform that the President passed in 2010. The law requires most American to buy health insurance. The court ruled that Congress does not have the authority to force people to buy health insurance.
In direct conflict with the ruling of an appeals court in Ohio, the Atlanta court ruled that the provision is beyond Congress's power to regulate commerce, disagreeing with the government’s stance that it does in fact have the right to ask people to buy insurance mandatorily, as part of its job to regulate commerce.
This economic mandate represents a wholly novel and potentially unbounded assertion of congressional authority," the majority decision said. The law requires "Americans to purchase an expensive health insurance product they have elected not to buy, and to make them repurchase that insurance product every month for their entire lives."
The court however said that the rest of the Healthcare law, beyond the mandate was constitutional overruling the decision of a lower court to throw out the entire healthcare reform.
"Excising the individual mandate from the act does not prevent the remaining provisions from being fully operative as a law," the majority wrote.
Yet the judgment puts a question mark on the fate of the healthcare law given that the it is such a crucial part of it. The government had proposed funding for the increased coverage by asking most Americans to get healthcare coverage. Bringing it close to the liberal dream of universal healthcare. Without this mandate the government simply does not have the money to bring more people under coverage.
In direct conflict with the ruling of an appeals court in Ohio, the Atlanta court ruled that the provision is beyond Congress's power to regulate commerce, disagreeing with the government’s stance that it does in fact have the right to ask people to buy insurance mandatorily, as part of its job to regulate commerce.
This economic mandate represents a wholly novel and potentially unbounded assertion of congressional authority," the majority decision said. The law requires "Americans to purchase an expensive health insurance product they have elected not to buy, and to make them repurchase that insurance product every month for their entire lives."
The court however said that the rest of the Healthcare law, beyond the mandate was constitutional overruling the decision of a lower court to throw out the entire healthcare reform.
"Excising the individual mandate from the act does not prevent the remaining provisions from being fully operative as a law," the majority wrote.
Yet the judgment puts a question mark on the fate of the healthcare law given that the it is such a crucial part of it. The government had proposed funding for the increased coverage by asking most Americans to get healthcare coverage. Bringing it close to the liberal dream of universal healthcare. Without this mandate the government simply does not have the money to bring more people under coverage.
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