Federal Judge Rejects Challenge To Health Care Overhaul

[telemann.livejournal.com]

Reported earlier tonight:

A federal judge on Thursday upheld the authority of the federal government to require everyone to have health insurance, dealing a setback to groups seeking to block the new national health care plan.

The ruling came in a lawsuit filed in Michigan by a Christian legal group and four people who claimed lawmakers exceeded their power under the Constitution's commerce clause, which authorizes Congress to regulate trade. But Judge George Caram Steeh in Detroit said the mandate to get insurance by 2014 and the financial penalty for skipping coverage are legal. He said Congress was trying to lower the overall cost of insurance by requiring participation.

"Without the minimum coverage provision, there would be an incentive for some individuals to wait to purchase health insurance until they needed care, knowing that insurance would be available at all times," the judge said. Nonetheless, the Justice Department hailed Steeh's opinion as the first time a "court has considered the merits of any challenge to this law. The court found that the minimum coverage provision of the statute was a reasonable means for Congress to take in reforming our health care system," spokeswoman Tracy Schmaler said. "The department will continue to vigorously defend this law in ongoing litigation."

The case will now be appealed to the Circuit Court in Cincinnati. The judge's ruling has no bearing on other hearings around the country about the Health Care Reform Act; and only affects the parties in the specific lawsuit. There's no doubt in my mind this will ultimately end up at the Supreme Court, and I have no idea how the decision will go, although Justice Kennedy would be the key swing vote no doubt (barring of course any vacancies by the more conservative judges).