John Kuntz/The Plain Dealer
A federal judge in Florida has ruled all parts of the health care reform legislation passed by Congress last year unconstitutional, handing a victory to the Republican and tea party elements that have taken steps to overturn the law from the moment President Obama signed it. The ruling comes as Republicans in Congress have passed a symbolic “repeal” of the health care law in the House and are mustering support for it in the Senate.
Judge Roger Vinson, a Republican appointee, said that the health care law was “invalidated” by the mandate for individuals to purchase health insurance or face a fine.
A federal judge in Florida struck down President Obama’s health care law today, saying it is invalidated by the requirement that nearly all Americans buy health insurance.
The Obama Justice Department promptly announced an appeal: “We strongly disagree with the court’s ruling today and continue to believe — as other federal courts have found — that the Affordable Care Act is constitutional.”
U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson — the second federal jurist to rule against the law — wrote that “Congress exceeded the bounds of its authority” with the buy-insurance requirement known as the “individual mandate.”
“Because the individual mandate is unconstitutional, and not severable, the entire Act must be declared void,” Vinson said.
The legal case — which is headed to appeals courts — revolves around the federal government’s power to regulate interstate commerce.
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The states that sued argue that Congress and the federal government cannot force to engage in commerce; i.e., buy health insurance.
The federal government argue that it — and taxpayers — often pick up medical costs incurred by the uninsured, making health care a legitimate object of regulation.
When states first filed the suit, they asked Judge Vinson to block implementation of the health care law. Vinson refused that request.
The government will proceed with implementation until the Supreme Court makes a final ruling.
And then Vinson should be impeached.
This partisan thuggery is based on the premise that a person without health insurance has no economic impact.
If you want to realize how absurd this argument is, go to a large hospital in any major city late night on weekend. Go to the emergency room.
There you will see dozens of patients being treated for car crashes, gunshots, drug overdoses, etc.
Guess what? Many of them will never pay their medical bills. Some because they don’t want to, some because they can’t.
Does this have an “economic impact”? Of course. All insurance premiums go up, medicare and medicaid go up, because the hospital and doctors must be paid.
Uninsured=cost. Until we let people die in emergency rooms it will mean cost.
The Republicans will never offer a replacement to the Democrat’s healthcare plan. By the time people realize that, it will be impossible to ever deal with healthcare reform again. The reason why the President undertook healthcare reform was due to the number of personal bankruptcies that were a result of medical bills. Basically the Republicans are saying that the status quo was better and have not offered alternatives beyond talk.