Breaking: Virginia judge rules part of Obamacare unconstitutional
UPDATE, 11:33: from the Wall Street Journal:
… Judge Hudson invalidated the part of the landmark healthcare law that requires individuals to buy health insurance….
And from the Boston Globe:
… Administration officials told reporters last week that a negative ruling would have virtually no impact on the law’s implementation, noting that its two major provisions – the coverage mandate and the creation of new insurance markets – don’t take effect until 2014….
And from Politico:
Hudson stopped short of blocking the law’s implementation until a higher court acts, but said he expects the administration to honor his ruling.
“The final word will undoubtedly reside with a higher court,” Hudson wrote in his ruling. “In this Court’s view, the award of declaratory judgment is sufficient to stay the hand of the executive branch pending appellate review.”
The VA ruling is arguably the most prominent in an onslaught of legal challenges that immediately followed the law’s passage in March….
The White House does not believe the decision will have any impact on the ongoing implementation of the health care law…. largely because some of the key provisions don’t take effect until 2014….
Administration officials concede that the lack of a mandate would cut the number of uninsured people who would get coverage in half and threaten the ban on denying coverage people with pre-existing conditions – one of the president’s signature selling points on the law. Other parts of the law, such as the insurance exchanges and Medicaid expansion, could arguably move forward unaffected.
UPDATE, 11:23: From WDBJ.com:
A federal judge in Virginia has found a key provision of the healthcare law unconstitutional, the first such ruling on President Obama’s landmark reform.
Judge Henry E. Hudson of the Eastern District Court in Richmond, appointed by George W. Bush, ruled that the law’s mandate that all Americans have a minimum level of coverage, or pay a fine if they do not, exceeds federal authority.
VA’s Republican Attorney General, Ken Cuccinelli, challenged the law by rejecting the federal government’s view that the mandate is enforceable under the Commerce Clause of the Constitution. The state was seeking an injunction against the entire healthcare act if the mandate was found unconstitutional.
VA has passed a law stating that residents cannot be ordered to buy insurance.
A federal judge in Florida ruled in October that a separate suit challenging the law brought by 20 states and the National Federation of Interdependent Business could move forward. But a Michigan judge had dismissed a third suit earlier that month.
UPDATE, 11:19: From CNN:
A federal judge in VA has ruled parts of the sweeping health care reform effort led by President Obama to be unconstitutional. This is the first federal court to strike down the law, contradicting other recent rulings the law was permissible. The key issue of contention was the “individual mandate” requirement that most Americans purchase health insurance by 2014.
The case is Virginia v. Sebelius.
UPDATE 11:15a: From Benzinga.com:
A VA judge has ruled that the Obama health care bill is unconstitutional.
It’s unconstitutional to force people to buy coverage…Congress has exceeded its power said Judge Hudson, the ruling judge in the case. The judge did not rule about the validity of the entire law, just this section of the law.
11:12a: Breaking, developing: According to NBC, a federal judge in VA has ruled “part of the Obama care law to be unconstitutional.”
Jill Stanek is a nurse turned speaker, columnist and blogger, a national figure in the effort to protect both preborn and postborn innocent human life.
I think this was in headed to the Supreme Court. Maybe it will be struck down and we can get true Universal Health Care.
I am glad that Obamacare has been declared unconstitutional. Whether it is through legislation or through the courts, whatever it takes to eliminate the threat that Obamacare holds over us and our loved ones will be most welcome. Over the last few days this much has been said by polar opposites about the reality of health care rationing under Obamacare.
From Lifesite News:
“… an economist who is a columnist for the New York Times says death panels may be needed as a solution to fix the troubled economy.
Paul Krugman appeared on ABC’s “This Week with Christiane Amanpour” during a roundtable discussion about the economy and the recent conclusions from the U.S. Debt Reduction Commission.
Krugman said the death panels won’t come into play now but would down the road.
“Some years down the pike, we’re going to get the real solution, which is going to be a combination of death panels and sales taxes. It’s going to be that we’re actually going to take Medicare under control, and we’re going to have to get some additional revenue, probably from a VAT. But it’s not going to happen now,” he said.”
From the Wall Street Journal (Sarah Palin on the problem with the debt commission recommendations):
“It (the debt commission) also implicitly endorses the use of “death panel”-like rationing by way of the new Independent Payments Advisory Board—making bureaucrats, not medical professionals, the ultimate arbiters of what types of treatment will (and especially will not) be reimbursed under Medicare.”
If both Krugman and Palin—about as far apart politically as two people can be—if they are both talking about the inevitability of rationing under Obamacare this ought to be taken as a wake up call for those in the middle who are unsure.
This from ABC News:
“Coinciding with a federal judge’s ruling invalidating a key element of the health care reform law, an ABC News/Washington Post poll finds support for the landmark legislation at a new low – but division on what to do about it.
The law’s never been popular, with support peaking at just 48 percent in November 2009. Today it’s slipped to 43 percent, numerically its lowest in ABC/Post polling. (It was about the same, 44 percent, a year ago.) Fifty-two percent are opposed, and that 9-point gap in favor of opposition is its largest on record since the latest debate over health care reform began in earnest in summer 2009.
More also continue to “strongly” oppose the law than to strongly support it, 37 percent to 22 percent.”
Many, like me, oppose the law because it’s a sweetheart deal for insurance companies. They loved the individual mandate part; forcing people to buy their products but little control over what they charge. We’re on the right track, but it’s not a straight road.
I don’t understand what Obamacare is all about — our president didn’t do a good job of explaining it — but I know that something must be done. My sister lost her job recently, and with it her insurance. Something needs to be done.
Hi phillymiss:
I couldn’t agree more: Something needs to be done. But Obamacare is NOT the solution, unless of course you are ready to hand over your health care options and decisions to bureaucrats.
Your sister and millions of others have not been able to avail themselves to more efficient and greater control over their health care because all of the plans submitted by the Repubs during the run-up to Obamacare were never allowed to come to a vote. The Dems had a stranglehold on what was and was not allowed in bill. Which of course is one of the main reasons they got booted out last month.
Obamacare to health care is akin to putting the likes of TSA agents and Department of Motor Vehicle clerks in charge of your health care decisions. Surely we can do better than that!