Federal judge rules mandated national health care participation unconstitutional

U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson, District Court of Eastern Virginia, has ruled invalid the part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act signed into U.S. law this year requiring U.S. citizens to obtain minimal health insurance coverage beginning in 2014.

In the conclusions of Commonwealth of Virginia v. Sebelius document released Dec. 13, Hudson wrote that Section 1501 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) — the final, amended version of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) that was passed by Congress on March 23, 2010. Section 1501 of the ACA mandates health care coverage, “exceeds the constitutional boundaries of congressional power.”

Supporters of the health care reform legislation had used the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which grants the federal government the power to regulate commerce between the states, as a basis for the constitutionality of the requirement.

Earlier court cases, including a district court in Virginia, had ended in decisions supporting the constitutionality of the bill. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said, “This was the Eastern District of Virginia; 115 miles away, the Western District Court of Virginia ruled November 30th to uphold the same provision that the Eastern District and its judge had ruled against. … [another] court — the Eastern District of Michigan on October 7th ruled in favor of the law as it was passed.”

“Today we prevailed,” stated Virginia’s State Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli in a press release issued shortly after Hudson’s decision was announced. “This is a great day for the Constitution! This won’t be the final round, as this will ultimately be decided by the Supreme Court, but today is a critical milestone in the protection of the Constitution.”

Cuccinelli added, “The insurance mandate penalizes people for not engaging in commerce. In other words, you can get fined for doing nothing.”

The Court also wrestled with the issue of whether Section 1501 can be separated from the rest of the ACA “while leaving the remainder intact,” according to the court documents. Hudson ruled to sever with circumspection Section 1501 of the ACA, as well as any directly-dependent provisions which make specific reference to Section 1501.

Other states also have Constitutional challenges to the ACA on the docket. According to the press release from Texas attorney general Greg Abbott's office, there is a 20-state coalition against the federal health care law that includes Texas, Florida, South Carolina, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Washington, Colorado, Michigan, Utah, Alabama, South Dakota, Idaho, Indiana, Mississippi, North Dakota, Arizona, Nevada, Georgia and Alaska. The lawsuit is filed in the Federal District Court in the Northern District of Florida. The states are joined in this lawsuit by the National Federation of Independent Business, and individual plaintiffs Mary Brown and Kaj Ahlburg.

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