Judge Invalidates Health-Care Act’s Insurance-Buying Mandate

Sept. 13 (Bloomberg) -- The requirement in the 2010 health- care law that most Americans buy insurance or pay a fine is unconstitutional, a federal judge in Pennsylvania ruled.

U.S. District Judge Christopher C. Conner in Harrisburg today said Congress exceeded its powers under the federal Constitution when it included in the act President Barack Obama signed last year the provision requiring almost all Americans to have medical insurance starting in 2014.

“The federal government,” Conner said, “is one of limited enumerated powers, and Congress’s efforts to remedy the ailing health-care and health-insurance markets must fit squarely within the boundaries of those powers.”

Three federal appeals courts have weighed in on the issue since June 29. A Cincinnati three-judge panel backed the provision 2-1, while one in Atlanta rejected it by the same vote. The U.S. appeals court in Richmond on Sept. 8 declined to rule on two separate challenges, citing jurisdictional grounds.

The Harrisburg ruling, if appealed, would be heard by the U.S. Court of Appeals in Philadelphia, which hasn’t yet ruled on the merits of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

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