It’s been a disheartening week for supporters of Democratic health care reform. On Monday, a second federal judge ruled that their signature health reform law is unconstitutional. Democrats maintain that the Affordable Care Act – including its individual mandate – is perfectly legal. They point out that two other federal judges …
individual mandate
Romney Relieved at Health Care Ruling?
Ben Smith makes a good point today about how yesterday’s health care ruling might affect 2012 presidential election landscape. Mitt Romney is leading the field, but is believed to be highly vulnerable in the primary season because he ushered in health care reform in Massachusetts while he was governor. That reform plan is extremely …
Affordable Care Act Unconstitutional, Says Florida Judge
In a big blow to the Obama Administration, a second federal judge has declared that the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate is unconstitutional. The mandate is a central provision of the health reform law that will, beginning in 2014, require nearly every American to maintain health insurance coverage.
Florida Judge Roger …
More Than Half of All States Now Suing Over Health Reform
Yesterday, six states – Ohio, Wisconsin, Iowa, Kansas, Wyoming and Maines – joined the Florida lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act. The federal suit, in which a ruling is expected within weeks, now includes 26 states. In addition, Virginia is pursuing its own case and Oklahoma’s attorney general has …
That Other Individual Mandate Lawsuit
In Pensacola, Fla. today, federal Judge Roger Vinson indicated he sympathizes with those who say the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate violates the Constitution. If Vinson ultimately rules that the requirement that all Americans maintain health insurance coverage is unconstitutional, it would be a second brutal court blow to the …
A Health Care Ruling Q&A
In the light of day, a few things about yesterday’s health care court decision are coming into focus. The White House clearly expected federal Judge Henry Hudson to rule the individual mandate unconstitutional. The judge telegraphed his intentions in earlier comments and the Administration was ready with talking points about how Hudson’s …
Individual Mandate is Unconstitutional, Says Federal Judge
(This post has been updated to include comments from Ken Cuccinelli.)
Casting a shadow of doubt over the future of the Affordable Care Act, a federal judge in Virginia ruled this afternoon that a major tenet of the new health reform violates the Constitution.
The decision, from George W. Bush-appointed Judge Henry Hudson, says that …
The Affordable Care Act Gets Another Day in Court
Evoking the Continental Congress and Alexander Hamilton – and referencing Sen. Scott Brown’s election in Massachusetts – Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli emerged from a federal courtroom today sounding confident that the U.S. Supreme Court will ultimately find the Affordable Care Act to be unconstitutional.
Cuccinelli is …
UPDATE: It’s a (Political) Tie (So Far)
Exactly one week after a federal judge in Michigan ruled that health reform’s individual mandate is constitutional, a federal judge in Florida has decided it may not be. In a decision that clears that way for summary judgement hearing scheduled for Dec. 16, Judge Roger Vinson said the following charges made in the lawsuit have merit and …
Can the Health Reform Law Work Without An Individual Mandate?
Last Friday, former Vermont Governor Howard Dean said something rather astounding on MSNBC. Dean said that the individual mandate, the controversial provision in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that requires people to maintain health coverage, won’t survive long enough to kick in by 2014. A court decision or political …
Marco Rubio Doesn’t – or Didn’t – Get It
There are a few very simple truths about how health insurance works, which some commentators and politicians can’t seem to grasp. The result is a constant drumbeat of disingenuous statements that misrepresent how health reform will work and why the Affordable Care Act was written as it is.
The latest failure to grasp comes from …
Elena Kagan and Health Reform
During Elena Kagan’s Senate confirmation hearing, the American public will get a sneak peak of a particularly contentious case that may reach the Supreme Court – the constitutionality of the new health reform law. Several Republican senators have already indicated they plan to ask Kagan about her view of the law’s mandate that …
4 Million Uninsured Will Pay Tax Penalty by 2016
So says the Congressional Budget Office, which released a brief report today on the effects of the health reform law. According to the report, about 4 million of the 21 million expected to lack coverage in 2016 will be subject to a tax penalty of $695 or 2.5% of income, whichever is higher. The rest of the 21 million will be exempt from …