District of Columbia Federal Judge Gladys Kessler has ruled that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care act, aka Obamacare, is constitutionally legal.
Her ruling is now the third to rule that the health care reforms signed into law on March 23, 2010 meet constitutional requirements. The other two judges, one in Virginia and one in Michigan have also ruled the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act constitutional.
Two judges, one in Florida and another in Virginia, have ruled the law unconstitutional, saying the individual mandate requiring all Americans, starting in 2014, to buy health insurance or face a fine exceeds Congress’ constitutional authority.
The conservative Christian legal group and the American Center for Law and Justice represented the suit on behalf of five individuals who by choice have gone without health insurance for several years.
Excerpt from Judge Kessler’s 64 page ruling:
"Because of this cost-shifting effect, the individual decision to forgo health insurance, when considered in the aggregate, leads to substantially higher insurance premiums for those other individuals who do obtain coverage," she wrote in her ruling. "According to Congress, the uncompensated costs of caring for the uninsured are passed on by healthcare providers to private insurers, which in turn pass on the cost to purchasers of health insurance."
The ruling was applauded by the Obama administration.
"We welcome this ruling, which marks the third time a court has reviewed the Affordable Care Act on the merits and upheld it as constitutional," Department of Justice spokeswoman Tracy Schmaler said in a statement. "This court found — as two others have previously — that the minimum-coverage provision of the statute was a reasonable measure for Congress to take in reforming our healthcare system. At the same time, trial courts in additional cases have dismissed numerous challenges to this law on jurisdictional and other grounds. The department will continue to vigorously defend this law in ongoing litigation."
The final decision on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care acts constitutionality still lies with the Supreme Court of the United States, but this ruling, along with the others, will have to be considered when they take the case up, which should happen next year.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act legislation was spearheaded in the Senate by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and it will cover more than 28 million citizens who have no health care once it is fully implemented.