Government Florida Federal Judge Rules ‘Entire’ Health Care Law Unconstitutional
A federal judge in Florida has ruled that the president’s health care overhaul, “Obamacare,” is unconstitutional. The judge based his ruling on the unconstitutionality of the law’s individual mandate. The ruling affects the 26 states who had joined together to file a case against the law, but also has implications for the entire country.
U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson ruled Congress overstepped its bounds by instituting the individual mandate, but also said the entire law was unconstitutional since the individual mandate is not “severable,” Fox News reports. Vinson did not go as far as to issue an injunction blocking the law from being implemented.
“I must reluctantly conclude that Congress exceeded the bounds of its authority in passing the Act with the individual mandate. That is not to say, of course, that Congress is without power to address the problems and inequities in our health care system. The health care market is more than one sixth of the national economy, and without doubt Congress has the power to reform and
regulate this market. That has not been disputed in this case. The principal dispute has been about how Congress chose to exercise that power here,” Vinson wrote.
“Because the individual mandate is unconstitutional and not severable, the entire act must be declared void,” he added.
Last month, a federal judge in Virginia also ruled that the individual insurance mandate of the Obamacare was unconstitutional. That judge, however, did not go as far as to say the entire law would be unconstitutional.
The ruling is just one more example of why the law is unpopular, and why it faces an uphill battle before being fully implemented in 2014. Still, despite the ruling in Virginia, the president doubled-down on his support of the bill last week, defiantly brushing aside those who question the overhaul.
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