Health reform challenge appealed to Supreme Court

A month after a Cincinnati federal court ruled 2-1 to uphold the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate provision, the organization that brought that suit has filed an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court (Source: “U.S. Supreme Court Asked to Overturn Obama Health-Care Law,” Bloomberg News via San Francisco Chronicle, Aug. 3, 2011).

The Michigan-based Thomas More Law Center contends that Congress exceeded its constitutional power when it required all U.S. citizens to either obtain health coverage or pay a fine. A panel of three judges in the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the law.The petition is the first challenge of the ACA to reach the Supreme Court through the regular appeals process (the Supreme Court declined a Virginia request earlier this year to hear an appeal on an expedited basis). The case may be heard later this year.

Shortly after the 6th Circuit ruling, Reem Aly, Esq., an HPIO Policy Associate, wrote an analysis of the court’s finding. Click here to read that HPIO analysis