A federal judge in Pennsylvania today ruled that the Affordable Care Act's
mandate is unconstitutional.
U.S. District Judge Christopher C. Conner in Harrisburg today said Congress exceeded its powers under the federal constitution when it included in the act Obama signed into law last year a provision requiring almost all Americans to have medical insurance starting in 2014.
“The federal government,” Conner said, “is one of limited enumerated powers, and Congress’s efforts to remedy the ailing health care and health insurance markets must fit squarely within the boundaries of those powers.”
Three federal appeals courts have weighed in on the issue since June 29. A Cincinnati panel backed the provision, 2-1, while one in Atlanta voted it down by the same margin. The U.S. appeals court in Richmond on Sept. 8 rejected two separate challenges on jurisdictional grounds.
In addition, the judge ruled that, because the mandate in the law is integral to the guaranteed issue and pre-existing condition provisions, the mandate by itself is not severable from the law, so all three provisions have to be struck.
Given the current structure of the Act, and with certain deference to the government’s perspective of Congress’s intent, the fate of the guaranteed issue reforms rises and falls with the minimum coverage provision. Accordingly, the court finds that the minimum coverage provision, guaranteed issue, and preexisting condition provisions must be severed from the Act.
You can read the decision here.
The government will likely appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals in Philadelphia.