Health Reform News: Fed. Judge Rules on Individual Mandate
Yesterdays ruling on Individual Mandate by Florida Federal Judge on buying a health plan is unconstitutional changes everything. More importantly, Judge Vinison also struck down the entire bill as unconstitutional.
According to Politico, the health reform law lacks a severability clause, a common legal phrase that prevents an entire law from being invalidated in court if one portion of the law is deemed illegal. He added that the law, “like a defectively designed watch, needs to be redesigned and reconstructed by the watchmaker” (New York Times, 1/31). Put in another way, he has compared the individual mandate to requiring an individual to buy broccoli because its good for you.
The Plaintiff, Florida DA, argued:
“The Individual Mandate is unprecedented. It compels citizens to engage in commerce even though they have not themselves chosen to enter the marketplace. Never before has Congress purported to use its power over interstate commerce to compel activity, rather than to regulate existing economic activity.”
If this ruling is upheld on appeal, many of the major provisions of PPACA will need to be redesigned or removed altogether. Further details regarding this ruling can be viewed at CNN.