ANOTHER COURT OF APPEALS RULES IN FAVOR OF HEALTH CARE REFORM

As the nation waits to hear if the U.S. Supreme Court will rule on the constitutionality of health care reform, another court of appeals has ruled in favor of health care reform.  Perhaps the most noteworthy thing about the ruling by the United States Court of Appeals for the District Of Columbia Circuit is that the decision was written by a conservative jurist appointed by President Reagan. 

 

As we previously reported, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta upheld a federal judge’s ruling in Florida that the individual mandate in the national healthcare law is unconstitutional.  The court also struck down part of the lower court’s decision in that the judge in Florida ruled that because the individual mandate was unconstitutional, the entire law should be struck down; however, the 11^th Circuit panel disagreed and found that the rest of the law could stand.

 

The 6^th Circuit previously ruled that the individual mandate is constitutional.  The 4^th Circuit ruled that because the penalties imposed on people for failure to purchase insurance have not yet gone into effect, it is too soon to sue on the issue.

 

The Supreme Court is expected to announce next week whether it will hear arguments on the constitutionality of the individual mandate.